Welcome Distractions
by Rapunzel4
Summary: An AU fic where the guys, specifically Heero and Duo, meet in college. [COMPLETE]
1. Unexpected Introductions

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 1: Unexpected Introductions  
  
Homework sucked.  
  
Heero Yuy had officially reached that conclusion about a half an hour ago, when he had begun trying to write his essay. Now, thirty minutes later, he was still sitting at a back table in the library, struggling to force his first paragraph onto the paper. Under any other circumstances, he would have quit several minutes ago. The problem was that he had done just that on several other occasions, and now his English essay was due the next day.  
  
"Virgil's work reflects some of the commonly held views about life after death at the time," Heero muttered to himself as he wrote the words on the paper. "His story is- oh hell!" he broke off violently. "It's only the first paragraph, and the to be verbs are already in there! Stupid rule!"  
  
He crumpled the paper up and set on the growing stack of rejects. Why had he thought that taking this comparative literature class would be a good idea? So what if it gave him general education credit? He hated the class, hated all the writing they made him do. "GE be damned!" he growled. "It's not worth it!"  
  
Still, it was too late to drop the class, so he tried to resign himself to his fate. Pulling out another piece of paper, he screwed his face up into an expression of determination. This time he would get it right. This time it would be perfect.  
  
Two sentences later, the paper followed its predecessors into the trash pile. Heero planted his elbows firmly on the table and put his face in his hands. At this rate, he was never going to finish. In frustration, he kicked his book bag, which stood propped against the leg of the table. It gave him a little satisfaction to see it flop to the floor, but as it landed, his water bottle spun out and went rolling across the library floor.  
  
Heero growled as he watched it retreat away from him. Great, just great. Now even his water bottle was conspiring against him. Well, let it; he was too busy to deal with such trivialities. With that thought in mind, Heero pulled out yet another sheet of paper and prepared to try again.  
  
This time it wasn't writer's block that interrupted him, it was a sound. Or rather, a series of sounds. First came the startled yelp, followed by a thump, and then a crash and a clatter. The noise was so loud and out of place in the quiet working environment of the library that Heero jumped. Wondering what on earth had happened to cause such a commotion, he got to his feet and strode towards the place the sounds had come from.  
  
It didn't take him long to find the source of the noise. Two rows down at the end of the line of shelves, a young man lay sprawled in an undignified manner on the tile floor. Around him were scattered a large array of heavy- looking textbooks. Obviously, the young man had fallen and the books had come down with him.  
  
"Are you alright?" Heero asked.  
  
A half moaned curse was his answer. The man sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Heero leaned down to try and see if there was a lump there from the fall, but it was difficult to tell, since his thick brown hair, done into a long braid, obscured that area.  
  
"What the hell did I trip on?" the young man said, climbing slowly to his feet.  
  
Heero looked to see, and felt a stab of chagrin. There, on the floor was the object in question: his water bottle.  
  
His companion followed his gaze and spotted the offending bottle. "Stupid people never pick up after themselves," he grumbled, picking the bottle up and stalking over to the copier room, where there was a trash can. Pitching the bottle in more forcefully than was necessary, he dusted his hands off with an air of satisfaction.  
  
"Hmph! Take that, evil detritus! I'll teach you-"  
  
"That was mine," Heero interjected.  
  
"-to trip... huh?" Wide, blue violet eyes blinked at him in surprise.  
  
"The water bottle. It was mine. It fell out of my bag."  
  
"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" To Heero's astonishment, the young man reached down, stuck his arm into the trash can, and began rummaging. A moment later, with a small triumphant "Aha!", he produced it. "Here you go."  
  
Heero eyed the thing distastefully. "That's alright. You didn't have to do that. It's dirty now."  
  
"No it's not," the other replied cheerfully, handing Heero the bottle, which he promptly set down again. "This is a library. It's not like people can bring their lunches in here and dump the leftovers in the trash. Most of what's in there is just paper."  
  
Heero could think of other unpleasant things one might throw away in a library aside from food, but all he said was, "How do you know what's in there? You didn't look."  
  
The young man rolled his eyes. "I don't have to look; I empty those containers every day. It's part of my job."  
  
"You work here?"  
  
"Yup! Why do you think I was carrying all those books?" He gestured at the texts strews across the floor from his fall. "My job is, among other things, to put them back where they belong on the shelves."  
  
"Fun," Heero said sarcastically.  
  
"Eh," he shrugged. "It helps pay the bills; that's what matters. It's not like I'm going to be stacking books for the rest of my life." He grinned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Duo Maxwell, by the way. Who are you?"  
  
"Heero Yuy." Taking the proffered hand, he shook it.  
  
"Heero, huh? That's an interesting name." Duo moved over and began picking up the books he'd dropped.  
  
"Yeah," Heero agreed, but didn't elaborate further. Instead, he knelt down to help Duo.  
  
"Oh, thanks," Duo said. "You don't have to do that."  
  
It was Heero's turn to shrug. "I was the one who made you trip in the first place. Seems only fair."  
  
"Well, if you look at it that way..."  
  
For the next minute, they knelt together in silence, picking up books. When they had collected them all, Duo stood up and smiled at Heero. At least, Heero thought he was smiling, although it was hard to tell, since his face was partially hidden behind the large armload of books he was now carrying.  
  
"Thanks a bunch," Duo said. "I've got to go stack these now, but I'll see you later."  
  
Heero doubted that he would, but he nodded politely before heading back to his table, where the stillborn attempts at an English essay still waited for him. At least Duo had provided him with a break, however short, from his work. With that thought in mind, he picked up his pen, gritted his teeth, and settled down to write.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, he sat staring at his paper in mild astonishment. There on the paper were four complete sentences of his opening paragraph, and he didn't feel like crumpling it up. It was beginning to look like he might finish after all.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Heero looked up from his contemplations to see Duo standing next to him. "You forgot this," he said, plunking Heero's errant water bottle down on the table.  
  
"Thanks," Heero said in a flat voice. He wasn't really thankful; he didn't want it back. There was no way he was drinking out of a water bottle that had been in a trash can, however "clean", and he fully intended to dump the hapless piece of plastic as soon as Duo wasn't looking.  
  
Heero was suddenly distracted when Duo leaned down over the table. For a moment he wondered what in the world the young man was doing. Then he realized that Duo was reading his essay, or what there was of it to read.  
  
"Not bad," Duo said. "But your thesis is kind of vague."  
  
Heero glared at him.  
  
"Alright, alright, don't get all pissed. I was just trying to be helpful. But I'll shut up and let you do your thing if you like. I've got work to do anyway." So saying, he sauntered off between the book shelves.  
  
Heero sat contemplating his departure for a moment, then shook his head and directed his attention to his paper. After all, he too had work to do.  
  
tbc 


	2. Fortuitous Acquaintances

Chapter 2: Fortuitous Acquaintances  
  
Heero glared at the paper that sat quietly mocking him on the table. A C minus. In his entire school career, he couldn't recall ever having earned such a deplorable grade. A C minus was only a half step above a D, which was only a step above failing. Failing was unacceptable.  
  
Perhaps as insulting as the grade itself were the suggestions his TA had written in the margins. The one next to the opening paragraph in particular caught his eye. It said, "Weak thesis."  
  
That particular comment was what had prodded him to come back to the library. He remembered Duo's remark to the same effect, and it rankled. While Duo's comment had been more in passing than because he thought Heero would take him seriously, the other young man might just know what he was talking about. He didn't intend to let such remarks slip by him again.  
  
So there he was, seated at the same table in the back of the library at roughly the same time he had been there the week previously, hoping to catch his new acquaintance. It was a long shot, but still worth it. To make the wait easier, he had brought along some of his homework from other classes that needed doing.  
  
As it turned out, the homework almost proved his undoing. He was so busy trying to concentrate on his reading that he didn't notice when Duo appeared and moved quietly between the shelves with a fresh armload of books. In fact, he probably would have missed Duo altogether if the other had not taken it upon himself to initiate a conversation.  
  
Heero looked up as the pages of his book suddenly fell into shadow, the light blocked by the person standing behind him. He was both surprised and pleased as Duo pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.  
  
"Hey there," Duo said cheerfully. "Busy as always, huh?"  
  
Heero grunted.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Duo commiserated. "Thank goodness I'm almost done for the day. What are you working on?"  
  
"Reading," Heero replied shortly.  
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "I can see that. Reading what?"  
  
"Don Quixote. It's for my English class. The one I was writing the essay for last time."  
  
"Ah. How'd that go, by the way?"  
  
Heero, who had been wracking his brain for a way to introduce the topic, was exceedingly grateful that Duo had done it for him. He pulled the unsatisfactory essay out of his book bag and slapped it on the table for Duo to see.  
  
Duo whistled when he saw the grade scrawled across the top. "Sorry I asked."  
  
/I'm not,/ Heero thought, but out loud he said, "You said my thesis was weak."  
  
Duo looked slightly abashed. "Well... It could have been better."  
  
"How?" Heero asked bluntly.  
  
Duo opened his mouth to tell him, then reconsidered. "Wait a minute," he said. "Are you trying to con me into helping you write your essays?"  
  
"I don't see why you say I'm trying to con you," Heero replied irritably. "I just want some help."  
  
"That's what they have tutors for," Duo said.  
  
Heero snorted. "Screw the tutors. You seem to know what you're talking about."  
  
Duo stopped talking and studied him solemnly for a minute. Confused by the sudden break in the conversation, Heero just sat and stared back, trying hard not to squirm under the intense gaze.  
  
Finally, Duo spoke. "Let me take a stab in the dark here. You want me to help you with your essays rather than going to the tutors because going to the library is a whole lot less embarrassing than going to the Learning Resource Center. Am I right?"  
  
Heero opened his mouth to deny it, then paused. If he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he really didn't want to go to the Learning Resource Center to ask for help. It would wound his pride, which was already suffering from his essay grade. Shutting his mouth, he glared at Duo.  
  
"I thought so," Duo said. "You're used to getting good grades, aren't you?"  
  
Heero nodded sullenly.  
  
"So you did bad on one essay. Big deal."  
  
"It is," Heero said. "Or if it isn't, it will be when I fail the next one. I'm no good at writing. I'm a computer engineering major."  
  
"Then why are you taking an English class?"  
  
"GE."  
  
"Ah." Duo nodded sympathetically. "Well, I know all about the evils of general education requirements. I have to earn some math and science credit even though I'm a linguistics major. So, fool that I was, I decided to take a calculus class to satisfy the requirement. Now I'm in over my head, and it's too late to drop." His eyes strayed to the calculus book sitting on the desk next to Heero's elbow. "You wouldn't happen to be good at calculus, would you?"  
  
"Calculus is easy," Heero said.  
  
"For you, maybe," Duo returned. "We have different text books, and probably different classes, but some of the material's got to be the same. How about you help me with my calculus homework, and I'll proofread your English essays."  
  
Heero considered. It was a fair enough trade. "Deal," he said.  
  
Grinning, Duo stuck out his hand, and they shook on it.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Four days later, Heero was almost starting to regret his deal. The fundamental problem with the exchange was that it only fairly worked when both parties needed help. Unfortunately, Heero seemed to be getting the worse end of it, since he only had an English essay due after every book he read. This translated out to about one essay every two weeks. Duo, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten a sadistic calculus professor who gave him biweekly homework assignments. This meant that while Duo was merrily collecting his benefits from the deal, Heero had nothing for him to do in return.  
  
"How the heck am I supposed to do this again?" Duo said, stabbing his pencil down next to the problem he was working on. "How do they expect us to know what the anti-derivative of all this mess is?"  
  
Heero surveyed the problem. He could have solved it in an instant, but he reminded himself that that didn't help Duo. "Look at your derivatives for the trigonometric functions and see which one it looks like."  
  
Duo groaned and banged his forehead against the desk once for theatrics. "I hate this," he whined. "Whoever invented integrals was a sadist."  
  
As he watched Duo sifting through his notes looking for the page with the trigonometric functions, Heero had to agree. Integrals were certainly making his life harder.  
  
"Why don't you keep your notes organized?" he snapped, having grown impatient with the whole study session a half an hour ago.  
  
"They are organized," Duo protested as he located the appropriate paper.  
  
"No they're not," Heero said, eyeing the mass of paper covered with doodles and scrawling handwriting distastefully.  
  
"I say they are, and they're my notes, so that's what matters." Duo sounded like he was losing patience too. "You don't have to study from them, so what do you care?"  
  
Heero bit his tongue and didn't answer. Duo took a deep breath and gave him a rueful smile. "Sorry," he said. "I'm just sick of doing this. It's really nice of you to help me when I'm sure you could be doing something much more fun."  
  
"Not really," Heero answered. "I'd just be back in my dorm, staring at the computer or listening to my roommate complain about how there is no justice in the world. He's aiming to go to law school, so I guess he's trying to practice on me."  
  
Duo snickered. "Just what the world needs. Another lawyer. What dorm do you live in?"  
  
"Nebula," Heero said. "Do you know where that is?"  
  
"Oh, of course," Duo said. "I lived on the third floor of Clay. That's the building right next door to you guys. I was always sort of envious; your dorm got to be named after a term in astronomy, while ours was just named after some dead white guy."  
  
Heero chuckled at that. "Lived?" he said. "Where do you live now?"  
  
"In an apartment, of course. They only let you live on campus for one year, then they kick you off."  
  
"What year are you?"  
  
"Second year. I'm a sophomore."  
  
"I'm a freshman," Heero said.  
  
Duo smirked. "I know. It's pretty obvious you're new around here."  
  
Heero glared at him.  
  
"Don't worry," Duo said breezily. "You'll settle in soon enough. Living in the dorms helps a lot. That whole sense of community and everything. I still live with my roommate from last year, but I miss the dorms sometimes. It sure was great up there on the third floor."  
  
Heero gave Duo a strange look. There was something about the way he'd said the words "third floor" that made Heero think that Duo expected him to find something special about them. "You must have had good cell phone reception," he said.  
  
The look Duo gave him had a hint of incredulity in it, but he laughed and said, "Yeah. It annoyed the first floor people no end. They couldn't get any reception, so they had to go outside."  
  
"Don't laugh," Heero muttered. "I live on the first floor."  
  
"Get a warm coat," Duo advised. "Otherwise, come winter, you'll freeze every time you have to make a phone call."  
  
Heero shrugged and then tapped Duo's paper pointedly. "You still need to finish this."  
  
"Awww," Duo groaned. "Do I have to?"  
  
"Do you want to flunk out of the class and have to repeat it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, then yes, you have to."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Swinging the door shut behind him, Duo slung his backpack off onto the couch and glanced around his apartment. A flash of blond hair caught his eye, and he smiled. "Hey, Quatre, how's it going?"  
  
"Alright," Quatre answered. He looked up from his work at the table, caught Duo's eye and smiled. "How's the math homework going?"  
  
"Finished!" Duo crowed triumphantly.  
  
"That's great," Quatre said. "In that case, you'll have time to fix yourself dinner, so I won't have to feel bad about leaving you on your own."  
  
Duo groaned. "Again? But I fixed dinner last night."  
  
"But Hilde's not here; she has a lab tonight, and I'm going out to dinner with Trowa."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in," Duo muttered. "You get to go out and spend a romantic night with your boyfriend, while I sit at home and die of boredom. I hate being single."  
  
Quatre gave him a sympathetic look. "What about the guy who's tutoring you? You said you thought he was cute."  
  
"Hot, Quatre. Not cute, hot. Unfortunately, he's also completely oblivious."  
  
"What do you mean?" Quatre asked. "Surely you haven't been putting all your moves on him yet."  
  
"Well, not all of them," Duo admitted. "But I told him that I lived on the third floor of Clay last year."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And he made some comment about cell phone reception."  
  
"Well, maybe he just doesn't know what the third floor of Clay is."  
  
"Oh, come on Quatre!" Duo protested. "He lives right next door in Nebula; how can he not know?"  
  
"Then he really is oblivious, or he's not interested," Quatre said logically.  
  
"Sh," Duo said. "I'm trying not to let myself think that he's not interested."  
  
"Oh Duo," Quatre said patiently. "You're being silly. The world is almost ninety percent heterosexual. The odds of some random guy you think is hot being gay aren't very good."  
  
"I know, I know," Duo said. "But, dammit, Quatre, he's freaking hot! I can hope, can't I?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "I suppose a little hope never hurt anyone."  
  
Tbc  
  
::groans:: I hate apartment hunting. 


	3. Further Interactions

Thanks to everyone who commented on this. I wasn't sure at first whether it was a good idea to write it or not. On a side note, some people (i.e. M.E. and a few others) have asked what the third floor of Clay has to do with anything. Suffice it to say that at the moment, you all know more than Heero does. All will be explained in time...  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 3: Further Interactions  
  
"You know, it's rude to read at the dinner table."  
  
Heero looked up to see Wufei giving him a disapproving look. Setting his book down on the table, he poked disinterestedly at the green beans on his plate. "Eating in the dinning hall hardly constitutes a dinner table," he said.  
  
Wufei made a disdainful noise. "Well, you're eating with someone, so it's still rude."  
  
Heero ignored him and picked his book up again. He had work to do, and after all, it wasn't like he had asked Wufei to sit with him. He only needed to complete one more chapter, and he could stop for the night.  
  
"Heero, my man! _Still_ working?"  
  
Heero blinked. He recognized that voice, but here in the dinning hall was one of the last places he had ever expected to hear it. Setting the book down, he gave his addressor a confused look.  
  
"Duo, what are you doing here?"  
  
Duo set his tray down and plopped into the seat next to Heero. "Both of my roommates are out tonight, which means I'm on my own as far as food. And since I'm too lazy to cook for just one person, I came here. I was hoping I'd find you."  
  
"Who's this?" Wufei asked.  
  
Seeing that introductions were in order, Heero promptly made them. "Wufei, this is Duo, the guy I help with math. Duo, this is my roommate Wufei."  
  
"Nice to meet you," Duo said through half a mouthful of pizza. "So you're the one who wants to be a lawyer, right?"  
  
Wufei nodded, but didn't reply in words.  
  
Duo didn't seem unduly put out by this lack of response. He finished off his pizza quickly and then got up to get more food. During his absence, Heero picked up his book in an attempt to read while he could. He had learned over the course of four days that trying to study when Duo wanted to socialize was an exercise in futility.  
  
Duo was gone for only a minute or so. When he returned, he had a bowl of soup as well as rice heaped on his plate. As soon as he was back in his seat, he was talking again.  
  
"Well, this place sure hasn't changed any since I was here. Not that you would really expect it to change much in just one year, but still, you'd think they'd at least fix some things. But no, they don't. Do you guys still have the ice dispenser that goes psychotic and spits ice at you even after your cup is full?"  
  
"Yeah," Heero answered, giving up his book as a lost cause.  
  
"I guess some things never change," Duo said as he began spooning rice from his plate into his soup bowl. When Wufei caught sight of this, his face shifted to an expression of mild disgust.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
  
"Huh?" Duo said, stirring the rice into the soup and then adding more.  
  
"To the rice," Wufei clarified.  
  
"I'm putting it in the soup," Duo said, his tone implying that any idiot could see what he was doing with it.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, not having grown up eating rice plain, it seems unbearably bland to me if I don't add something to it."  
  
Wufei eyed the mixture with distaste but didn't comment further. It was as though he had decided that he didn't want to know any more about Duo's eating habits.  
  
Duo's good cheer continued, undimmed by Wufei's obvious disapproval over the incident with the rice. He chatted amiably throughout the meal, not seeming to mind that he rarely got more than mare than a two word answer out of his companions. When Heero made a comment to the effect that he and Wufei were hardly the best of company, Duo laughed it off.  
  
"Are you kidding?" he said. "If I'd been eating with my roommates at home, Hilde'd be kicking me under the table and telling me not to talk with my mouth full."  
  
Wufei muttered darkly about Hilde having the right idea. Duo ignored him.  
  
"I'm going hunting for more food," he announced, standing up.  
  
"What do you mean, 'hunting'?" Wufei asked. "The main line is right there." He gestured towards a fairly short line against one wall.  
  
"Was that where you got that?" Duo asked, pointing at Heero's plate, on which sat a slice of uneaten meat.  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
Duo gave Wufei a shrug. "That's why I said hunting. If my memory of dorm food serves me right, there's no way I'm eating that. What they claim is pork really tastes like plastic. Rule number one of dorm dinning: When in doubt, go for the pizza; it's safe." With that, he sauntered off.  
  
Wufei snorted. "Loquacious guy."  
  
Heero shrugged and poked at his pork chop. Maybe Duo was right... The pizza was starting to sound good.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I don't think your roommate likes me very much."  
  
Heero, who had been looking up at the lit windows of the dorm buildings they were walking by, turned to look at Duo. "What makes you say that?"  
  
Duo snorted. "What doesn't? He doesn't seem to like my eating habits, my manners, or my morals. The guy jumped on my case just because I swiped a few ice cream bars from the dinning hall. I mean, come on! How anal can you get? Everyone swipes food from the dinning halls, and since we've already paid for it, more or less, I don't see what the problem is. Just because I don't want to eat according to their schedule doesn't make it wrong."  
  
Heero listened to the rant in silence, wondering if the dispute over the ice cream was what had caused Wufei to leave early, leaving him to walk back to the dorm with Duo. (Duo insisted on walking back with him, saying that it was "on my way," and that he wanted to visit some old friends who had become RAs anyway.) He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings, and so almost walked in to the hand that was waving in front of his nose.  
  
"Hello? Heero?"  
  
Heero stopped and gave Duo a mildly annoyed look. "I'm listening."  
  
"Could've fooled me," Duo said.  
  
"Wufei doesn't really like anyone," Heero said. "Don't take it personally."  
  
"How can you not like anyone?" Duo asked. "The world is full of likable people."  
  
Heero shrugged. "He doesn't get out much."  
  
"Aha," Duo said. "He's a room gnome. Okay."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A room gnome. You know, someone who spends all of their time studying in their room and never really talks to other people."  
  
Heero considered that. Actually, he thought that he fit Duo's description better than Wufei did. Or at least he had fit it before he'd started going to the library almost every day to meet Duo.  
  
Once again, it was Duo who broke into his thoughts. "Well, here's your building, so I'll just be off now. See you tomorrow."  
  
"But tomorrow's Saturday," Heero said.  
  
Duo just gave him a slightly mischievous smile. "Goodnight," he said.  
  
"Goodnight," Heero said, turning towards his building. Before he entered, however, he stopped and turned to watch Duo jogging off down the path. When Duo had rounded the corner and vanished from sight, he opened the door and went inside.  
  
tbc  
  
Rapunzel: Holy Crap! I've got class in fifteen minutes!  
  
Muse: Ditch it! Ditch it! Ditch it!  
  
Rapunzel: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I can't ditch it. You know she always tests us on stuff she covers in lecture.  
  
Muse: Aw, come on. You don't want to go take boring anthro notes. You want to stay here and write!  
  
Rapunzel: ::sticks her fingers in her ears:: I'm not listening to you. 


	4. Inquisitive Roommates

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 4: Inquisitive Roommates  
  
Heero had no idea why Duo had said he'd see him the next day, since they didn't meet on weekends. He dismissed it offhand as a slip of the tongue, a customary goodbye blurted out without thought. That was why he was so surprised the next night when, upon stepping out of his dorm building at dusk, he spotted Duo sitting propped against the tree that grew in front of the building. Upon catching sight of him, Duo smiled broadly and rose gracefully to his feet, brushing dead grass off his pants as he did.  
  
"Hey!" he hailed Heero. "You hungry?"  
  
"Yes," Heero answered. "I was just going to dinner."  
  
Duo moseyed up and fell into step beside him. "Mind if I join you?"  
  
"No, of course not."  
  
Duo grinned and immediately launched into a conversation. "So, how's your weekend going so far? Got lots of homework?"  
  
"Yeah," Heero answered. "I've already finished some of it."  
  
"I haven't even started mine yet, well, except for the math, but you already know about that. The rest is just a bunch of reading anyway. I'll probably do it all Sunday night."  
  
"Procrastinator," Heero muttered.  
  
Duo laughed. "Don't I know it. I have procrastination down to a fine art."  
  
As Duo continued talking all the way to the dinning hall, Heero found himself gradually relaxing more and more.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Where's Duo?"  
  
Quatre looked up from the handout he was studying. "He said something about dinner and vanished. He took his ID card with him, so he's probably at the dinning hall on campus."  
  
Hilde chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "The dinning hall? Why would he want to go there?"  
  
Quatre shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he went last night too. Said he didn't feel like cooking."  
  
"But it's my night to cook," Hilde protested. "He can't even use laziness as an excuse. I don't understand that guy sometimes. All last year he did nothing but complain about how bad dorm food was and how he couldn't wait to get his own place so he could fix his own meals. And now we have our own place, and what does he do? He heads straight back for the dinning hall."  
  
"Well then," Quatre said simply, "it logically follows that he's not going for the food."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hilde asked, sitting at the table so that she was on eye level with Quatre.  
  
"Well, he did say he was interested in a freshman guy he met in the library..."  
  
Hilde threw up her hands. "That explains it, alright. How Duo."  
  
"Oh, now Hilde, be nice," Quatre protested. "You know he hasn't had an actual boyfriend since high school."  
  
"Maybe that's why he flirts all the time."  
  
"I really think he's serious this time," Quatre said.  
  
Hilde considered that. "You know, I think we should meet this guy. Let him know we mean to protect our roommate's honor and all that."  
  
Quatre chuckled. "I think Duo isn't the one whose honor is going to need protecting."  
  
"But seriously," Hilde said, "aren't you at least curious?"  
  
"A little," Quatre admitted.  
  
"Okay then," Hilde said. "What say we tag along with him next time, just to get a feel for what this guy is like."  
  
Quatre smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Someone was poking him.  
  
Duo made an irritated noise and swatted vaguely at the offender as he rolled over. The poking finger vanished, but a moment later, a voice sounded in his ear. A high pitched, extremely irritating voice.  
  
"The sun it is shining! How bright is the day! "Good morning! Good morning!" the little birds say."  
  
Duo groaned.  
  
"Actually," Hilde continued, dropping back to her normal voice, "it's more like, 'Good afternoon,' but that's a minor detail."  
  
Duo rolled over again to look at the clock. Then he turned piteous eyes on his roommate. "Hilde," he whined, "what do you want to go waking me up for? It's only noon."  
  
Hilde snorted. "Only! Only, he says!"  
  
"It's Sunday," Duo said. "I'm supposed to sleep in."  
  
"I don't sleep that late on Sundays," she said self righteously.  
  
"You never sleep in because you were silly enough to be a science major and take all your classes in the morning."  
  
She smacked him. "You're just lazy! Now up!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, if you don't hurry, we won't make it to the dinning hall in time to catch your boyfriend for lunch."  
  
"He's not my boyfriend yet," Duo muttered.  
  
"Yet?" Hilde looked triumphant.  
  
Duo smacked a hand to his forehead. He really needed to learn not to open his big mouth when he was half asleep; things tended to pop out that he might not have said under ordinary circumstances.  
  
"Oh, come off it, Duo," Hilde said, seeing his reaction. "In a living situation like this, there's no such thing as privacy. You should know that by now. I mean, the whole third floor knew it last year when Quatre started dating Trowa."  
  
"That's because they were noisy and dorm walls are thin," Duo muttered.  
  
"I got news for you, buddy. Apartment walls aren't any thicker. And since my room is just on the other side of the wall from yours, I have a vested interest in your love life."  
  
So saying, she turned and headed out of his room, not bothering to close the door behind her. Duo groaned and pulled his pillow up to cover his face. There were times when he hated living with females.  
  
"Come on!" Hilde yelled from the hall. "Up and at 'em!"  
  
Resigning himself to the inevitable, Duo struggled up out of bed.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero paused to look around when he heard his name being shouted at top volume. It took him a moment to spot whoever was hailing him. Then he saw Duo waving frantically at him.  
  
"Him again?" Wufei muttered.  
  
"And not alone either," Heero observed, slowing his pace to allow Duo to catch up.  
  
"Hey, Heero!" Duo greeted as he reached the other two. "Thought we'd join you for breakfast."  
  
"It's lunch," Wufei said.  
  
"It's breakfast for me," Duo said. "Anyway, this," he gestured at the blond haired young man standing at his side, "is Quatre, one of my roommates. Quatre, this is Heero, and this is Wufei. Hilde -she's the other roommate- should be along in a minute. She met an old pal of hers that works here as an RA and stopped to chat."  
  
Heero nodded distractedly.  
  
"There she is," Duo said, waving at a girl with short dark hair. She jogged over to join them, and the five of them entered the dinning hall.  
  
"So," Hilde started off, "I hear you and Duo are becoming great pals." Her question wasn't clearly addressed to either Heero or Wufei, and Heero wasn't sure whether or not to answer. Fortunately, Duo saved him.  
  
"Hey, Hilde," he said. "They have brownies today."  
  
Hilde's nostrils flared and her eyes acquired a strange gleam. "Chocolate?" she said.  
  
Duo quickly reached out to snag Wufei's arm, dragging him out of Hilde's path as she headed over to the bakery table, where the brownies were. "Never, ever get in between that woman and her chocolate. In fact, never get between a woman and her chocolate in general."  
  
"Nice save, Duo," Quatre murmured. "But you know that even chocolate won't put her off for very long."  
  
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Duo muttered back.  
  
"Is it healthy for her to start off her meal with a brownie?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Life is short. Eat dessert first."  
  
They went to stand in the main line for food, and after a minute or two, Hilde came to join them, happily munching on a brownie. She immediately turned to Wufei and began to ask about his classes, and how he was enjoying his first year so far. He answered her as shortly as possible at first, but gradually began to go on at more length about his reasons for trying to get into law school.  
  
"So, Heero," Quatre said, "Duo tells me you're a computer engineering major. What are you planning on doing with that?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "Not sure yet."  
  
Hilde almost immediately switched her attention to him, asking him in turn about his classes and the like.  
  
"So, are you going to take any more English classes?" she asked.  
  
Heero snorted. "After the way this one is going? I don't think so."  
  
"But you've got such a nice tutor now," Hilde said pointedly. Then she jerked slightly as Duo kicked her rather savagely. She turned to scowl at him.  
  
"Behave, children," Quatre hissed.  
  
They scowled, but acquiesced, and the rest of the meal passed more or less without incident.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You were chatting up Wufei," Duo said to Hilde that evening. His tone was midway between amused and accusatory.  
  
"I didn't know which was which at first," she snapped back. "While you so kindly gave Quatre their names, you seemed to have forgotten me."  
  
"And you just naturally assumed it was Wufei I was interested in?"  
  
"Well, you said he was hot. That was the only physical description I got."  
  
"That should have been enough," Duo said. "You know what my tastes are."  
  
"I thought that of the two of them, Wufei was the hotter."  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Not that Heero's not good looking, mind you, but I think you're making too big a deal about it."  
  
"You...You..." Duo sputtered. He finally gave up on speech and just rolled his eyes, twirling his finger near his temple in a "You're crazy" symbol.  
  
"Seriously!" Hilde said.  
  
"Hilde, babe, you're nuts. There is no way Wufei is hotter than Heero."  
  
"Are you two discussing men again?" Quatre asked from his accustomed spot at the table.  
  
"Quatre, be our tie breaker," Hilde suggested. "Who do you think is hotter: Heero or Wufei?"  
  
Quatre considered it. "Well, they're not Trowa, so I'd have to say neither."  
  
"What?!" Hilde squawked.  
  
"That's not an answer!" Duo protested. "Stop playing so innocent; don't you dare tell me you don't look at other guys just because you have a boyfriend."  
  
"Yeah," Hilde added. "Even if you're on a diet, you still look at the menu!" (1)  
  
"That's hardly an appropriate analogy," Quatre said reprovingly. "I stand by my former answer."  
  
"Oh, Quatre, stop being such a damn diplomat!" Duo said. "Don't worry about pissing one of us off; just say what you think."  
  
"I did say what I thought," Quatre said stubbornly.  
  
"Quatre!"  
  
tbc  
  
(1) This is a favorite saying of one of my dorm mates. One of my male dorm mates, in fact. (surprise, surprise)  
  
Author's note: For those of you who I know are thinking it, no, I am not currently planning to set Hilde and Wufei up. I don't think they'd be very compatible. However, Hilde is a fairly ordinary girl; no reason she can't appreciate beauty when she sees it. ^.~ 


	5. Potential Rivals

The author would just like to state here that, with regards to the argument at the end of the previous chapter, she sides firmly with Quatre. Trowa is hotter than both of them. ^.~  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter Five: Potential Rivals  
  
Duo's roommates were very strange, Heero decided. Especially the girl, Hilde. She had seemed very... intent. It made him a little edgy, in fact. He could see how she and Duo would get along well, though. Idly, he wondered if they were a couple, but quickly shoved the idea away. For some reason, his mind shied away from the possibility that Duo was already hooked up with someone.  
  
/He and Hilde can't be a couple,/ he reasoned. /Her parents would never let them live together if they were./  
  
Part of his mind whispered that his reasoning was flawed; Hilde was an adult, and if she wanted to live with her boyfriend, there was little her parents could do to stop her. He ignored the little voice and clung to his argument.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
Heero looked up at the speaker, a girl in an orange shirt with short, light brown hair. "Yes?"  
  
"Is that your laundry?" she asked, pointing at a full dryer.  
  
Belatedly, Heero realized that while he had been lost in thought, his laundry had finished and had been sitting in the dryer for about five minutes. The girl was probably waiting for a free dryer. Mumbling an apology, he quickly dumped his clothes into the bag he used to transport them and got out of her way. He was so flustered by the thought that he had been blankly staring into space for goodness only knew how long that he didn't even bother to fold his clothes before packing them. /I'll do it when I get back to my room,/ he told himself.  
  
He hadn't anticipated how long it would take him just to get back to his room.  
  
He had only walked a few feet away from the laundry room when he heard a little shriek and a clatter. Turning around, he beheld a vaguely familiar girl kneeling on the pavement with clothes scattered around her.  
  
Sighing with annoyance, Heero set down his bag and went to help her pick up her clothes.  
  
"Oh, thank you," she said, smiling shyly at him. "The door hit the edge of my basket on the way out, and my clothes just went everywhere."  
  
Heero grunted and grabbed random articles of clothing, shoving them in the basket.  
  
"Say," the girl said suddenly. "Don't I know you?"  
  
Heero stopped, an piece of clothing in his hand, and stared at her. She had fairly long golden-brown hair, with a little bit of it pulled back into two small braids, and blue eyes. She _did_ look familiar, but he couldn't place her.  
  
"I know!" she said. "You live in my building, don't you? I saw you at the orientation meetings at the beginning of the year."  
  
Ah. That explained it. He was glad she remembered, because he sure didn't.  
  
"My name's Relena," she said. "I live on the second floor. And you are?"  
  
"Heero," he answered shortly.  
  
Relena looked down and suddenly blushed. Heero stared at her; what was the matter with the girl?  
  
"Um, Heero?" she said. "You can put that back now."  
  
"Huh?" For a moment he was utterly confused. Then he looked down and realized that the item of clothing he'd had in his hand throughout their conversation was a bra. A pink, frilly bra.  
  
With a sharp curse, Heero threw the thing into the basket as though casting away a venomous snake. His face went crimson, and he stood up abruptly, seized his own laundry, and took off.  
  
He didn't get very far. Relena gathered up the rest of her clothes and followed him. When he reached his building, he noticed her behind him and politely held the door open.  
  
"Thanks," she said, beaming at him. "It was really nice of you to help me pick up all my laundry."  
  
Heero shrugged, not quiet knowing what to say to that. "I have to go put my stuff away," he muttered, and escaped.  
  
"I'll see you later!" she called down the hall after him.  
  
Shutting the door behind him, Heero set his bag down on the bed and opened it, preparing to sort his laundry. He stared down, then broke of with a string of curses, some of which were directed against Duo, some against Relena.  
  
Every item of clothing in the bag was crumpled and wrinkled beyond recognition.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Hey, Dorothy, you know that cute Asian guy on the first floor?"  
  
Dorothy didn't even bother to look up from her government book to answer her roommate. "What about him?"  
  
"Well, I finally got to talk to him!"  
  
"Really? You finally managed to establish communication with one of the reclusive first floorers? How?"  
  
Relena, who was used to Dorothy's odd choice of words, continued with enthusiasm undimmed. "He was in the laundry room. When I dropped my basket, he helped me pick up my clothes. Then he held the door open for me. Isn't he such a gentleman?"  
  
Dorothy gave her roommate a hard look. "You didn't drop your basket deliberately, did you?"  
  
"What? No, of course not. I was just in a hurry to get out of there, and I accidentally got hit by the door as it was closing."  
  
Dorothy gave her a hard look, but said nothing.  
  
Relena noticed the look. "I didn't!" she protested. "That's the sort of thing you'd do, not me."  
  
Dorothy had no comment on that.  
  
"He's really cute," Relena continued, dreamily, "but he's kind of shy. I think he needs some help interacting with other people."  
  
She missed the slightly evil glint that came into Dorothy's eyes. "Well, then, we'll just have to help him."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"So," Duo said as he and Heero sat together in the library, "you finally have something for me to work on, huh?"  
  
Heero made a face. "I have to write an essay on Don Quixote."  
  
"Ooh," Duo said, wincing dramatically. "I had to read that. I hated it."  
  
"Well, I'm hating it now," Heero muttered. "And I don't know where to start on my essay."  
  
"Do you have a topic? Do you know what you're going to write about?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well then, that's one step right there," Duo told him. "Now, if you're having trouble, I would suggest making an outline. Just sort of organize the main points you want to cover in each paragraph."  
  
Heero took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and began to do just that. After a few minutes, he held up the paper for Duo to see. Taking it, Duo scanned over it.  
  
"Not bad, not bad," he said encouragingly. "However, you seem to be saying the exact same thing in paragraph four as you did in paragraph three."  
  
With a long suffering sigh, Heero took back the paper and began to revise it. /I'm doing revisions on a bloody outline,/ he thought. /What the hell is wrong with me?/  
  
/Now don't get so irritated,/ he reminded himself, casting a sideways glance at Duo. /He had to suffer through days of you picking at his every little math error. It's only fair that you go through the same thing./  
  
After looking over the outline a second time, Duo seemed much more pleased. "Good. Now, let's get to start on the opening paragraph, which in my opinion is always the hardest. You have to say what you're going to say."  
  
"Say what I'm going to say?" Heero repeated dubiously.  
  
"Yup. A basic outline of any essay is: say what you're going to say, say it, and then say what you said."  
  
"Seems rather redundant," Heero muttered.  
  
"Hey, I didn't come up with the style, buddy. I just adhere to it."  
  
Heero nodded and bent his head to work. He had just barely touched his pen to the paper when a voice calling his name made him look up again.  
  
"Hi, Heero!" the girl said as she set her backpack on the table and sat down across from them.  
  
"Hi!" Duo answered her brightly. Turning to Heero he asked, "Who's this?"  
  
Heero's mind went blank. He had met her, just the other night, and he knew she lived in his building, but what the hell was her name?  
  
"I'm Relena," she said, holding her hand out. "I live in Heero's building."  
  
"Duo Maxwell." Duo took her hand and shook it. "I work with Heero on English stuff, and he helps me with math."  
  
"Oh," Relena said. "If you need help with writing stuff, Heero, I could help you. I'm an International Relations major, so I have to write a lot."  
  
"Really," Duo said. "One of my roommates is in that major."  
  
"Which one?" Heero asked.  
  
"Quatre. Hilde's a science person."  
  
"Anyway," Relena said. "Just let me know if you need any help. It'd be a lot more convenient to climb to the second floor rather than coming all the way to the library."  
  
Duo turned to look at Heero to see what his verdict would be. Heero just nodded vaguely.  
  
"Okay then!" Relena beamed at him. "I'll see you back at the dorms."  
  
Heero nodded again as she left, then turned to look at Duo. The other young man was looking vaguely disappointed, but Heero wrote it off as just his imagination.  
  
"I think that's enough for the day," Duo said. "How about you work on it overnight? You can get that girl to help you. Show it to your TA before you hand it in too; that always helps."  
  
Heero nodded and packed his papers away in his bag. As Duo waved goodbye and left, he was filled with the vague idea that something was wrong. He couldn't quite say what or why, but something was out of place. It wasn't until he was walking down the library steps that he pinpointed it.  
  
Duo hadn't said his usual farewell words, "See you tomorrow."  
  
Tbc  
  
Author's notes: Yes, I know Heero is really dense. I wrote him like that on purpose. If he were perceptive when it came to other people's emotions, he'd have figured out right away that both Duo and Relena are hitting on him, and the story would have been over a chapter ago.  
  
They're having a highlighter fight in the hall outside, so I think I'm going to stay in my room until it's safe to come out. 


	6. Growing Attractions

Finals report: One down, three to go. Go me.  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 6: Growing Attractions  
  
Shower stalls provided nice places to think, Heero decided. No one would disturb you, and as long as the hot water didn't run out, you could stay in indefinitely. It was a chance to be grabbed at when living in a dorm where privacy was a fragile illusion.  
  
So far, he had been standing in the shower for five minutes without actually doing anything except thinking. Duo was very confusing, and required a lot of thought. He'd seemed almost... disappointed that afternoon when Relena had offered her help. At first, he had thought that Duo merely felt bad because if Heero accepted Relena's help instead of his, it would leave him without a way to pay Heero back for the math tutoring. Now, however, he was beginning to wonder if there was more to it than that.  
  
But surely Duo couldn't actually _like_ tutoring him, could he? Heero himself didn't particularly like having to explain things multiple times and be patient; Duo was the only person he was even willing to attempt it for. Still, that didn't mean Duo felt the same way. He might have been one of those people who was cut out for teaching.  
  
Still, that didn't quite explain why he had seemed so upset. Surely, losing one student to another tutor wasn't a big deal. If Duo really wanted to help other people learn, there was no shortage of potential tutees. That left one other option for him to consider.  
  
Heero idly reached a hand out for his shampoo bottle. Dumping a generous amount onto his palm, he began to rub it into his scalp as he considered the last option. Was it possible, just possible that Duo...  
  
He pulled his hand away from his scalp as he considered it, but was suddenly distracted upon catching sight of his palm. His red, sticky palm...  
  
An enraged howl rose from the men's bathroom.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Relena sat quietly in her room, reading over the chapter for her political science class. She kept expecting Dorothy to walk in, but she didn't. The other girl had vanished mysteriously about a half an hour ago with no explanation as to where she was going. She didn't have class, and it was too late for her to be at dinner. Relena knew that she was probably just off around campus somewhere, perfectly fine, but it was after dark, and she felt it was incumbent upon her as a roommate to worry a little.  
  
BAM! BAM! BAM!  
  
Relena jerked in surprise and dropped her book as someone began pounding on her door. Rising, she went to answer it.  
  
Heero stood outside her door, wearing nothing but a towel and an enraged expression.  
  
"Oh!" Relena said, blushing profusely as she surveyed his chest, still covered with water droplets. "Heero. What are you doing here?"  
  
"Where is she?!" he snarled, seeming oblivious to her scrutiny.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Your roommate! When I get my hands on her..." He let the threat trail off in a growl as he stared around the Dorothy-free room.  
  
"She's... out," Relena said, since she truly had no clue where her roommate was. "Why are you looking for her? Maybe I can take a message..." She silently said a little prayer of thanks that he wasn't looking at her, and therefore couldn't see how red her face was. Not that she wasn't enjoying the view...  
  
"You tell her that if she ever touches my shampoo again, she's a dead woman!"  
  
"What did she do to your shampoo?" Relena asked, startled. She tore her eyes away from his chest long enough to actually look at his head and realized that his hair was coated in a reddish, sticky substance.  
  
"She replaced it with cough syrup!"  
  
"No!" Relena cried in disbelief. "She wouldn't!"  
  
"Then how do you explain this?!" he growled, focusing his attention on her long enough to shove a bottle labeled shampoo in her hands. On the bottom, in permanent marker, the initials "D. C." were scrawled.  
  
Desperate to remove the blame from her roommate, Relena cast about for someone else in the building whose name started with a D. "Maybe it was Daniel from the third floor," she said.  
  
"His last name is Roderick."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Heero seemed to realize at last that he was standing nearly naked in a hallway that had several female residents, some of whom were openly peering at him from their doorways. "Well," he muttered, "just tell her not to do it again."  
  
"Okay. I will."  
  
Turning around, Heero stalked back towards the bathroom, doing his best to ignore the appreciative looks of his female dorm mates. As soon as the bathroom door had closed behind him, Relena dared to pick up some papers from her desk to fan herself with. She could still feel her face burning.  
  
One of the girls standing in her doorway just down the hall from Relena turned to her roommate. "See?" she said. "I told you there were advantages to living on the same floor as the guys' bathroom."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"What in the world were you thinking?"  
  
Dorothy shut the door behind her and turned to face her roommate, who was giving her a half bewildered, half accusatory stare. "Huh?"  
  
"Doing that to poor Heero."  
  
"Oh." She smiled. "So, he found out about the shampoo, did he?"  
  
"So it was you."  
  
"Oh yes. Did you get to ogle to your heart's content?"  
  
Relena didn't answer, but the crimson blush that spread up her cheeks was answer enough.  
  
"You don't have to thank me," Dorothy said breezily. "What else are roommates for?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Slinging his towel over his shoulder, Wufei strode up the stairs to the second floor. He had to fit his shower in at least an hour before he went to bed in order for his hair to dry properly, and since he had just finished one of his reading assignments, now seemed like the perfect time. There was only one slight problem.  
  
"Damn it!" he muttered as he retrieved the shampoo bottle from the back of his locker in the bathroom. "I knew I was forgetting something." He had meant to go to the store to buy more shampoo, but it had completely slipped his mind.  
  
He was seriously considering a late night trip to the store when he noticed that Heero's locker was slightly open. /Heero won't mind if I use some of his shampoo,/ he decided.  
  
Five minutes later, the second floor echoed with an enraged cry.  
  
"YUY!!!!"  
  
The door to the men's bathroom burst open, and a rather irate Wufei came striding out, wrapped in a towel, flop-flops flopping against the floor as he ran for the stairwell. "Yuy, you're a dead man!"  
  
Two girls peered out from their doorway to watch him pass, then looked at each other.  
  
"That's twice in one night," one said.  
  
The second one turned to look down the hall once again. "I'd say leaving the door open wasn't all together a bad idea."  
  
Her roommate nodded in fervent agreement.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next day...  
  
"Darn her," Duo muttered. "Shot my end of the bargain to hell in under five minutes. That's got to be a new record."  
  
He sighed and shuffled through his math notes again. Since Heero no longer needed him to tutor him in English, Duo was betting that his math tutoring was also going to end. So he hadn't bothered waiting for Heero near the entrance of the library like he usually did. He had, however, staked out a chair at their usual table once his shift was over, just in case. He knew that Heero was unlikely to show up, since, as Relena had pointed out, climbing the stairs to the second floor was easier than coming all the way to the library. It was a forlorn hope, but he clung to it nonetheless.  
  
He felt rather irritated with Relena, although he knew it wasn't really her fault. Still, the fact remained that because of her, his Heero-watching time was likely to be cut down significantly. He certainly had no intentions of giving up yet; he was still planning on spending several nights a week at the dinning hall. He refused to give up until Heero himself made it plain that his presence was unwanted.  
  
/The only reason he probably hasn't done that already is because he hasn't figured out that you're hitting on him,/ Duo reminded himself. For all he liked Heero, he would be the first to admit that the other man was one of the densest people he'd ever met when it came to flirting. So far, that was working to his advantage, since once Heero figured out that Duo was interested, he was likely to go running for the hills.  
  
"Bloody hell!" Duo muttered, slamming his fist against the desk. He would have loved to think that Heero was gay, or at least bi, but knew that the chances of that were pretty slim.  
  
"Math homework bugging you?"  
  
Duo jumped, but when he turned around to face the speaker, his face was lit up with a smile. "Heero! You came!"  
  
"Yeah. Sorry I'm late." Heero set his book bag down and pulled out a chair to sit in. "I went and got my TA to look over my stuff like you said."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And she said that the outline was a good start, but that what I have of the essay so far needs work."  
  
"Well, let's work on it then," Duo said.  
  
"What about your math homework?"  
  
"Oh, I'm almost done," Duo said, waving that away. "Tell you what. How about you look over my math homework while I look over what you have of the essay so far?"  
  
Heero agreed, and they exchanged papers. Duo found that he had to force himself to concentrate on Heero's essay; he was too busy doing mental victory cries. For reasons best known to himself, Heero had come back.  
  
"Looks good," Heero was saying, and Duo forced himself to concentrate on the real world again long enough to accept his math homework.  
  
"Thanks. Your TA was right; this could use some improvement. You've got a couple of run on sentences, and one that starts with 'and'. Who's your teacher, by the way?"  
  
"Professor Mortle," Heero answered.  
  
"Ah," Duo made a knowing sound. "He's the one who has the rule of no more than four 'to be' verbs per page, right?"  
  
"Yup," Heero said dismally. "I hate that stupid rule."  
  
"So did I," Duo said. "I had him last year." He bent his head and began underlining the various grammatical errors in Heero's paper, but he kept stealing glances at the young man sitting next to him.  
  
Heero finally noticed the scrutiny. "What?"  
  
"Did you go to Relena for help with this?" Duo asked casually.  
  
"No," Heero answered. "I'm not going near her room right now."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because if I do, I might just kill her roommate." Seeing Duo's questioning look, Heero went off into an account of the previous night's shampoo disaster. By the time he was done, Duo was snorting with laughter, trying to control himself so as not to make too much noise.  
  
"Ah, dorm life," he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "How I miss it. Stuff like that just doesn't happen as much once you move into an apartment."  
  
"Than I can't wait to get an apartment," Heero said, but he looked much less angry than he had at the beginning of his account.  
  
Duo grinned at him once more before going back to the paper.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"What do you mean, you've forgiven her?" Wufei said, looking at Heero as though he had lost his mind. "That evil, conniving woman made you put cough syrup in your hair, and you've already forgiven her?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "When you look at it from a detached point of view, it was pretty funny."  
  
"Funny?!" Wufei sputtered.  
  
"Duo thought it was funny."  
  
"I don't care what Duo thinks!"  
  
/I do,/ Heero thought, but refrained from saying anything aloud. Wufei wouldn't have listened anyway; he was too busy muttering bad things about Dorothy under his breath. Finally, sending one last incredulous look at his roommate, he stalked out of the room and slammed the door.  
  
Heero wasn't perturbed. He hoped up onto his bad and sprawled across it, relishing the sudden quiet. It gave him more time to think about Duo. Suddenly, he was finding that more of his thoughts seemed to center around that particular young man. Either that, or they had for a while, and he was only just now noticing it.  
  
He was having a hard time rationalizing his reasons for continuing to have Duo tutor him in English. At first, he put it down to Dorothy's prank, but that wasn't it. He could just as easily have had Relena work with him in the lounge. Then he explained it to himself by saying that Duo was a second year student, and therefore had had to write more papers, so he had more practice. That one didn't quite fly either, since Relena had had plenty of practice in high school.  
  
Now, as he lay mulling it over, he realized that, having ruled out everything else, there was a very simple reason for him to keep going to the library. He simply enjoyed Duo's company. He would have been the first to admit that he was not a social person by nature, but around Duo, he found himself talking more than he usually did. He smiled more too...  
  
It wasn't that he didn't like Relena; he hardly knew her. However, he had always been rather uncomfortable around girls. He had never really been that interested in them, and he kept getting the feeling that they expected something from him, something he couldn't deliver. Sometimes he felt like Duo expected something from him too, but it didn't bother him.  
  
Sighing, Heero levered himself up and went to his computer to work on his infernal English essay. /After all, I have to have something for Duo to read tomorrow./  
  
tbc  
  
Author's note: The cough syrup scenes appear courtesy of M.E., who gave me the idea. 


	7. Peaceful Interludes

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 7: Peaceful Interludes  
  
As the quarter wore on, the weather got steadily colder. Heero began to truly appreciate Duo's advice about getting a warm coat. Soon, the large, waterproof jacket began to feel like an extension of his body, since he was always either wearing it or toting it around. Most of the dorm residents discovered, much to their chagrin, that the heaters in the dorm rooms worked sporadically, if at all. This did not bother Wufei, who was evidently used to living in cold climates. He left the window open at all hours of the day and night, despite Heero's pointed attempts to keep it closed. He even opened it in the middle of the night, which left Heero freezing and wishing his RA would let him sleep in the lounge. The only good thing about the weather was that he now had an even more valid excuse to visit the library, which was heated.  
  
Sitting next to Duo in the library, Heero found himself reluctant to leave, despite the fact that his essay had been proofread to perfection and Duo was almost finished with his homework. Tipping his chair back slightly, he stared blankly out the window for a moment, then swore violently.  
  
"What's the matter?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero pointed out the window. "It's raining."  
  
Duo followed his gaze to the gloomy clouds outside and the sheets of water descending from the sky. "So it is," he said simply.  
  
"You're awfully calm about this," Heero remarked, sounding rather irritated.  
  
Duo just shrugged. "What did you expect? Winter is a comin'."  
  
"It's coming a little too fast for me," Heero muttered.  
  
"What's the matter, Heero? It's just a little water."  
  
"I don't have an umbrella," Heero admitted grudgingly. "By the time I get back to the dorm, I'll be soaked and freezing, and the room will be like an icebox because the heater doesn't work and Wufei _always_ insists on leaving the window open, even though I've asked him not to."  
  
Duo listened to this rant in silence. "Oh," was all he said when Heero was finished. He sat looking at the gray sky as he contemplated something. Then he turned to Heero and smiled. "I've got an umbrella," he said. "I can walk you back."  
  
"Thanks," Heero said, "but I think I'll just stay here where it's warm for a while."  
  
"That won't work," Duo protested. "They'll close the library in a few hours, and the only reading room they leave open is always freezing. Tell you what, why don't you come home with me? The heater in our apartment works just fine, and if I know Quatre, he'll have it turned up full blast. He hates the cold."  
  
Heero barely paused to consider. Given a choice between going back to his dorm room to sit in the cold and listen to Wufei go on about whatever current injustice was being perpetrated by someone, or going with Duo where it was warm, the decision was not a hard one. "That'd be great."  
  
"Great!" Duo beamed at him. "Let's get going then!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
"We're home!" Duo called as he ushered Heero into the apartment and shut the door behind him.  
  
"We?" came the answer from somewhere within. A moment later, Hilde appeared from the hall and looked curiously at the two young men taking off their coats. "Well, hello Heero. Didn't expect to see you."  
  
"His roommate is a penguin, apparently," Duo said. "I decided to take pity on him and offer him a warm place to hang out for the evening."  
  
"Ah." Hilde made an understanding noise. "Well, make yourself at home, Heero." And with that, she vanished into a back room.  
  
Heero turned to Duo, looking mildly confused. "A penguin?"  
  
"That's what we call those people who seem to thrive in the cold. Quatre's just the opposite. He never seems comfortable unless it's at least eight- five degrees outside."  
  
"And what's your name for people like that?"  
  
"Well, Hilde came up with the nickname "penguin", and I don't really know if she has a nickname for their opposites. She calls Quatre Mr. 'I Freeze at Seventy-eight Degrees', but I think that's more of an individual thing."  
  
"Seventy-three!" Quatre's voice called out from his bedroom. "It's seventy- three degrees, not seventy-eight! I'm a little more hardened than that!"  
  
"Whatever, you're still a wuss," Hilde answered him coolly from the next room.  
  
Duo snickered. "They've been arguing over that for months now. Look, it's even gotten to the point where they don't have to be in the same room."  
  
"You have strange roommates," Heero said.  
  
"Well, that just means I fit right in," Duo said with an unabashed smile. "Anyway, you're not exactly one to talk. I think Woofers might have a screw or two loose himself."  
  
Heero chuckled at that. "Don't let him hear you call him that."  
  
"Oh, I have no intentions of letting that happen. I'll save the really good nicknames for when I see him." Duo ushered him towards a rather beaten up couch. "Have a seat. You want anything to drink?"  
  
"No thanks," Heero said. "What with the rain, I think I've had all the liquid I want right now."  
  
"Suit yourself," Duo said. "I'm making hot chocolate."  
  
"While you're up," Hilde's voice called from the back room, "make me some too, will you?"  
  
"Yeah sure," Duo answered. "Quatre, you want any?"  
  
"No thanks! I've already got some tea."  
  
"Ah yes, tea. Of course," Duo said softly to himself. Seeing Heero give him a slightly quizzical gaze, he smiled and said, "It seems like that's all he ever drinks."  
  
Soon, Duo had returned to the couch, a steaming mug in hand. "Hilde!" he called. "Your hot chocolate's on the counter!"  
  
"I'll get it in a few minutes!" Hilde called back.  
  
"Better not wait that long," Quatre said. "It may cease to be hot chocolate, and become cold chocolate."  
  
"It's still chocolate!" Hilde said firmly.  
  
"To her, that's all that matters," Duo told Heero. "So, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
"Oh, you're real helpful," Duo muttered sarcastically. "What do you usually do?"  
  
"Homework."  
  
"Boring!" Duo said.  
  
"What's boring?" Quatre asked as he strolled out into the living room, slippers slapping softly against the carpet.  
  
"Homework," Duo said.  
  
"Ah," Quatre answered. "Lucky me then; I just finished mine. Do you guys mind if I turn up the heat a little? It's cold."  
  
"It is not cold, Quatre! The windows are fogging up, for goodness sake!"  
  
"Alright, alright," Quatre said, sitting in a chair facing them. "What are you two doing?"  
  
"Trying to decide what to do," Duo answered.  
  
"Let's play a game," Quatre suggested. "Not poker," he added hastily, seeing the look in Duo's eyes.  
  
"What's wrong with poker?" Heero asked.  
  
"Nothing, unless you let Duo play. He'll fleece you, since he always insists on playing for money. He always wins."  
  
"Just like you always win at Risk?" Duo asked pointedly.  
  
"How about a nice, neutral game like Scrabble?" Quatre suggested.  
  
"Heero?" Duo looked at him questioningly.  
  
"Sounds fine," Heero said. In truth, he had never really played Scrabble before.  
  
"Great!" Duo said. "Hey, Hilde, babe, you want to play?" he called.  
  
"Sure," Hilde said, appearing in the doorway and moving over to the table to snag herself a chair.  
  
Quatre went and dug the game out of a closet somewhere, and Heero tried hard to figure out how the game was played as he watched them set it up. Fifteen minutes later, he thought that he had it more or less figured out. He also thought that he might have made a mistake by agreeing to play. For what Quatre had called a "neutral game", this one was turning out to be awfully cutthroat.  
  
"Xenia is not a word!" Quatre protested.  
  
"You're just saying that because it's on a triple word score!" Hilde countered.  
  
"Duo, is xenia a word?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Well, according to my classics class, yes. It's an ancient Greek custom that has to do with welcoming visitors."  
  
"No it's not!" Hilde said. "It has to do with hybrid plants."  
  
The three of them looked at each other for a moment, then they all cried in unison, "To the dictionary!" Soon, Hilde had an old and battered dictionary on the table before her and was leafing through it.  
  
"I still say it's not a word," Quatre grumbled.  
  
"I think it is, and I'm the linguistics major here," Duo countered.  
  
"Ha!" Hilde cried triumphantly. "Found it! Gentlemen, read it and weep!" And she turned the dictionary towards them, index finger planted firmly above the entry in question.  
  
"Damn," Quatre muttered, reading it. "Only a science major would think of that."  
  
"Allow me to count up my points." Hilde had an incredibly smug look on her face as she gleefully marked her thirty plus points on the score sheet.  
  
"Laugh it up while you can, babe," Duo said. "I've got a score to settle here."  
  
And settle it he did. By the end of the game, Duo and Hilde were tied for points. Quatre seemed content to be in third place, while Heero had almost a hundred few points than any of them.  
  
"Well, sucks to be you, Heero," Hilde said, reveling in her shared victory.  
  
"Be nice, Hilde," Quatre scolded her. Turning to Heero, he said, "You'll do better next time."  
  
"Next time..." Heero repeated slowly.  
  
Duo, who had been putting letters back into the bag, paused to give Heero a rather hopeful look. "Well, you will come over to play again, won't you?"  
  
Heero considered it for a minute. He could spend time in his drafty room with his semi-antisocial roommate, or come hang out at Duo's apartment and have fun. "Of course," he said. "But would you mind if I brought Wufei along? He needs to get out more."  
  
"Heero, buddy, I couldn't agree with you more," Duo said cheerily. "Bring him by if you like, if he's willing to spend time among us ill-mannered heathens. I know he doesn't think very highly of me, but if he wants to come, bring him."  
  
"He probably won't want to come anyway," Heero muttered. "He'll be too busy studying for finals."  
  
Hilde and Quatre both gave understanding nods, and began talking about the evils of finals. Duo just looked stricken. "Finals," he repeated. "They're less than two weeks away. That means the quarter's almost over."  
  
"I know," Heero said. "I can't wait to be finished. No more of those damned essays."  
  
"No more math homework," Duo said, voice dull. That surprised Heero, who had thought that Duo would be more than happy to get out of his math class. Then he realized. No more math class meant no more tutoring sessions.  
  
Almost before he knew what he was thinking, Heero heard himself say, "Hey, Duo. I signed up for an anthropology class next quarter that requires me to write a paper at the end. I know you won't have any math for me to help you with, but would you mind maybe giving me a few pointers?"  
  
It was amazing how fast Duo could make the transition from glum to cheerful. "Sure, I would love to!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Stupid piece of junk!"  
  
Heero ignored his cursing roommate. Wufei had been swearing at his suitcase for the better part of a half an hour, and as far as Heero could tell, it wasn't helping at all. "You've got too much stuff in there," he said, for what seemed like the hundredth time.  
  
"I packed everything I needed, and no more," Wufei answered rather stuffily. "Why aren't you packed? You know they'll close the halls for winter break the day after tomorrow."  
  
"I know," Heero replied. "But I've got a final tomorrow. Studying is more important than packing."  
  
"If you have to study for your final, why aren't you studying?" Wufei demanded.  
  
Heero let the irritation creep into his voice as he answered. "Because _somebody_ keeps making a lot of racket and swearing at his suitcase because it won't close, and I can't concentrate!"  
  
"Try sitting on it."  
  
Both Heero and Wufei turned to the doorway, where Duo stood, watching with mild amusement.  
  
"How did you get in?" Wufei asked.  
  
Duo shrugged nonchalantly. "One of the other residents let me in. I'm on my way to the train station to head home for the break, but I just stopped by to give Heero something."  
  
"What?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo leaned over and retrieved a rather bulky package that he had placed in the hall, transferring it to Heero. "Go on then, open it," he said, after Heero simply stared at it for a moment.  
  
Heero opened it and found a large, downy comforter.  
  
"So you don't freeze at night," Duo said. "Merry Christmas."  
  
Heero was speechless for a moment. "Thank you," he finally managed.  
  
Duo smiled at him. "You're very welcome. Have a good holiday, you two!" And with that, he was gone, braid swinging as he walked off.  
  
"Damn," Heero muttered, staring after him. "I didn't think to get him anything."  
  
"You didn't get anyone anything," Wufei pointed out. "Not even that girl on the second floor with the evil roommate who gave you sweets."  
  
"That was different," Heero muttered, not really paying attention.  
  
Wufei shook his head at his distracted roommate and went back to his suitcase. "Sit on it, huh? Let's see if it works." Closing the lid as far as he could, he sat on it. Sure enough, his weight forced the top to shut, and he was able to slide the locks into place. "Finally!" he muttered, then straightened. "Well, if I don't get going soon, I'll miss my plane. I will see you in January."  
  
"Bye. Have a good break," Heero said, echoing the words his dorm mates had been saying to each other for days. Then Wufei was gone, and Heero was alone.  
  
Tbc  
  
Whew! Seven chapters, and I'm only through the first quarter! This is shaping up to be a long one.  
  
I think this chapter is slightly longer than most of the previous ones to make up for the fact that not much happens. 


	8. Unwise Decisions

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 8: Unwise Decisions  
  
Winter break was for the most part uneventful. His family had never been very concerned with celebrating Christmas, which meant that Heero was left to spend three weeks lounging around doing nothing. By the end of that time, he was beginning to feel like going out of his mind was a viable option if it would just help him escape the boredom. So he was quite glad to return to school and his now familiar dorm room.  
  
His return was not quiet as peaceful as he had envisioned it. The trip back went smoothly enough, as did his goodbyes to his family. However, upon opening the door to his room, he was immediately confronted with an angry Wufei.  
  
"Why didn't you lock the door before you left?!" Wufei demanded.  
  
"But I did," Heero protested.  
  
"Then how do you explain the fact that when I returned, not only was the door unlocked, but my half of the room was completely covered with toilet paper?!"  
  
Heero gaped at him. "What? Wait a minute, you surely don't think I had anything to do with that."  
  
Wufei made a disgusted gesture with his hands. "I know exactly who did it! She left her initials in wadded up, wet toilet paper on the ceiling!"  
  
Suddenly, Heero knew with perfect certainty what had happened. "What did you do to piss Dorothy off?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing!" Wufei yelled. "She's a crazy, vindictive bitch!"  
  
"That implies that she has something to be vindictive about," Heero said.  
  
"All I did was leave a note on her door telling her what I thought about her little trick with the shampoo."  
  
"Why?" Heero asked. "That wasn't directed against you. I was her target."  
  
"But I ended up suffering for it too!"  
  
Heero couldn't help but point out, "Well, whose fault is that? If you had asked me before using my shampoo, I'd have told you not to."  
  
"Are you saying that you're siding with that evil woman?!"  
  
"I hardly need to side with her," Heero pointed out dryly. "Looks to me like she's doing fine on her own."  
  
"She won't get away with this!" Wufei cried. Shaking his fist at the ceiling, he shouted, "Woman! You realize this means war!"  
  
Heero sighed, wishing he could be anywhere else but watching his roommate act like a maniac. "Wufei, I doubt she can hear you. She doesn't even live in the room above us."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Wufei said. "She'll know soon enough."  
  
Heero gave Wufei a dubious look and began considering if it would do any good to tell him that he was getting in over his head.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Since Wufei was already in residence when he returned, the room felt like an icebox as usual. Heero found himself very glad of Duo's Christmas present before long and took to pulling it off his bed and wrapping up in it during the day, since he had no place to flee to. The library was still closed for break, and Heero wasn't sure exactly when Duo would return to his apartment. He was very glad when the first day of classes came.  
  
That Monday afternoon found him in the library as usual. He had no idea whether Duo would be there or not, since he didn't know the other young man's class schedule, and Duo worked around his classes. However, he staked out their usual table and set himself down to wait. Soon, his efforts were rewarded.  
  
"Hey, Heero, how was your break?"  
  
He looked up and smiled slightly as Duo pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. "Boring. How was yours?"  
  
"Great! Not long enough though. They never are."  
  
Heero shrugged at that. He had thought that the break was too long, but then he knew other people thought he was a little odd.  
  
"So," Duo said, "got anything you need to work on?"  
  
"Not yet," Heero said. "I just came here to hang out."  
  
The words sounded silly to him, but there was nothing silly about the smile they brought to Duo's face.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The first week of classes passed more or less without incident. When looking back afterwards, Heero would always swear that some higher force was simply trying to lure him into a false sense of security. It worked too. Everything seemed to be going well until late on Thursday night.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Please?" Relena looked hopefully up at him, batting her eyes slightly.  
  
Heero balked. "I'm not really a party person."  
  
"But it's just this once," Relena wheedled. "Please? I really don't want to go by myself, and Dorothy says that she can't go."  
  
"I'll think about it," Heero said grudgingly, more to get rid of her than anything else.  
  
Relena gushed and thanked him profusely, which left Heero feeling mildly guilty. She obviously assumed that "I'll think about it" meant "Yes." Heero, however, was still leaning towards a negative response. He sighed heavily; women were strange creatures.  
  
"What did she want?" Wufei asked as Heero came back into his room and closed the door.  
  
"She wants me to go to a pre-rush fraternity party with her tomorrow night," he said.  
  
"Why you? If you'll forgive my saying so, you really don't seem the type to be interested in that."  
  
"I don't know," Heero said, picking up a book from his shelf and dropping it on the desk. The loud thump that it made as it landed hardly helped to ease his frustration. "As you say, I'm not the type of person who goes to those things, but she says that she doesn't want to go alone."  
  
Wufei nodded. "Perfectly sensible of her. Women shouldn't go alone to events like that."  
  
"Why not?" Heero asked.  
  
"Well, it's dangerous," Wufei said, looking as though it were obvious. "Just think about it; a woman by herself amongst a bunch of young men, most of whom have been drinking. Sounds like a recipe for trouble to me."  
  
Heero bit his lower lip in concern. He didn't know Relena very well, but he certainly held no ill will towards her. He didn't want anything bad to happen to her.  
  
"Do you really think there's any danger?" he asked.  
  
"There's always some danger," Wufei said. "As to how much, I couldn't say."  
  
Heero chewed on his lip for a moment while he considered his options. Then, making up his mind, he walked down the hall and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Knocking at the door to room 210, he braced himself. "Hi, Relena? I've made up my mind..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Friday night came, Heero found himself wishing he hadn't felt the need to be so chivalrous. His head was pounding in time to the loud music, and he couldn't tell if the room was also shaking to the beat, or if he had simply had too much to drink. Probably the latter, he decided hazily, since he had lost track of exactly how much he'd drunk. Relena had spotted several girls from their dorm and abandoned him in favor of their company early on. She was currently standing over with them, giggling noisily. Clearly, she had no need of his presence, and he could leave without feeling guilty.  
  
Stumbling out the door, Heero met with a blast of cold air. In his never ending stupidity, he had neglected to bring a coat with him, and he shivered violently. Once out in the cold, he almost wished for the stuffy environment of the fraternity house.  
  
Heero stumbled along in what he thought was the general direction of the dorms. The sooner he got back and into his nice, warm bed, the happier he would be. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be getting very far. The world seemed to sway around him, and he felt nauseous. Vaguely, he wondered if it were possible to get motion sick just from walking. He decided it wasn't a good idea to find out, and stopped walking, setting his back to a nearby tree.  
  
He couldn't remember sitting down, but he was certainly seated when a startled, "Heero?" brought him back to awareness. Looking up, he saw Hilde leaning over him.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"I was walking home, but I got motion sick," Heero replied vaguely.  
  
Hilde looked at him searchingly, then turned and called over her shoulder. "Duo! Get over here!"  
  
"What is it?" Duo strolled up, Quatre and an unfamiliar man in tow. When he saw Heero sitting against the tree, his eyes went wide with surprise. "Heero! What are you doing out here?"  
  
"He's drunk," Hilde said simply. "Very drunk, if I'm any judge. Trowa, why don't you have a look at him; you're pre-med."  
  
The unknown young man answered, "Pre-veterinary medicine, you mean. I only study animals."  
  
"Animals, drunk college students, I see very little difference."  
  
Trowa knelt in front of Heero, green eyes studying him carefully from behind an impressive thatch of brown bangs. "Well, Hilde, I'd have to agree with you. He's definitely drunk. However, he doesn't seem to be showing any of the symptoms of alcohol poisoning." To Heero he said, "Go home and sleep it off. You'll hate yourself tomorrow, but you'll be alright."  
  
"He can't go back to the dorms," Duo said. "You can't just show up at the dorms intoxicated. His RA will bust him and send him to Student Judicial Affairs."  
  
"That's only if he gets caught," Hilde said.  
  
"Gee, he'll come stumbling in, too drunk to walk on his own power, and he's not going to get caught. Yeah, that's real likely."  
  
Heero leaned his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes. Maybe, if he couldn't see the world move, it would stop spinning.  
  
"Why don't we take him home with us," Duo suggested. "Assuming he wants to come, of course. He can sleep on the couch."  
  
"But Duo," Hilde said. "You were going to sleep on the couch, since Trowa's coming over."  
  
"Why don't I go home with Trowa, and Heero can have my bed," Quatre suggested.  
  
"Are you sure?" Hilde asked. "His place is a little out of your way now."  
  
"Nonsense," Quatre said cheerily. "It's a lovely night for a walk, don't you think so Trowa?"  
  
Trowa made an affirmative noise.  
  
"Well, then have a good night, you two," Duo said.  
  
Goodbyes were exchanged, and two sets of footsteps went off down the street. Someone was bending over him, and Heero cracked one eye open to see Duo. "Come on, buddy," he said, taking Heero's arm and putting it around his neck as he hauled the other to his feet. "How does spending the night at my place sound?"  
  
"Okay," Heero mumbled.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Thank goodness we live on the first floor," Duo panted. "I'd hate to have to climb stairs with him in this state."  
  
"I second that," Hilde said from Heero's other side. Pushing open the door to their apartment, they somehow managed to maneuver the half-unconscious young man through the doorway and into the living room. "Now let's get him into bed, quickly." Seeing Duo's sharp gaze, she added, "Not like that, you sicko!"  
  
Stumbling between the two of them, his head lolling, Heero was truly a pathetic sight. It didn't help much when he raised his head and moaned, "I'm gonna be sick."  
  
"New destination!" Duo said, hastily dragging his charge in the direction of the bathroom.  
  
They barely made it in time, hauling Heero in front of the toilet just as he doubled over and began retching. Duo knelt on the tile floor next to him, rubbing his back soothingly, while Hilde watched with an expression of resigned annoyance on her face.  
  
"What a great way to end the night," she muttered sarcastically.  
  
"Hilde, you go to bed," Duo said. "I'll take care of things from here on out."  
  
"Sounds fine to me," Hilde said, and she turned and retreated to her room.  
  
Heero, who had finished throwing up for the moment, pitched sideways and slumped against Duo.  
  
"How you doing there, buddy?" Duo asked, concerned.  
  
"I feel like crap," he muttered.  
  
"I'm not surprised," Duo said. "Think you're done barfing for now?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, then let's get you to bed." Standing up, Duo once again found himself hauling Heero's inert body through the hall. He somehow managed to get the door to his room open, dragging Heero inside and over to Quatre's bed. Getting the other young man actually into the bed was more difficult, but after several moments and a few feeble attempts on Heero's part, he managed it.  
  
"Go to sleep," he said gently, running a hand through Heero's hair. Heero rolled onto his side and mumbled an inaudible response.  
  
Duo lingered by the bed, running gentle hands over Heero's hair until he was sure his companion was asleep. Even then, he stayed, feeling strangely tender. "You sure know how to get yourself into messes, don't you?" he murmured to his sleeping friend. Leaning down, he brushed a soft kiss over Heero's forehead. The other didn't so much as stir.  
  
Sighing, Duo padded across the room to his own bed and prepared to settle down for the night.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next morning when Heero woke up, he wished he hadn't. The nausea from the previous night hadn't faded, his head was still pounding, and his mouth felt like something that had been left at the back of the fridge for way too long.  
  
"What the hell did I do?" he moaned.  
  
"You acted like an idiot," Duo's voice answered.  
  
Heero cracked one eyelid open to find himself in Duo and Quatre's bedroom, a place he had only been in once before when Duo had asked him to find a book for him. Duo himself was sitting in a folding chair nearby. Quatre was nowhere in sight.  
  
"What happened?" he croaked, resisting the urge to stick his head under the pillow and hide from the light of day, which seemed inordinately bright that morning.  
  
"You went and got yourself smashed," Duo answered, looking half sympathetic, half amused. "I don't know when or where, but we found you last night as we were walking home from a movie."  
  
"I went to a frat party," Heero said. "Relena asked me to go, and Wufei said it wasn't safe to let her go alone."  
  
Duo frown. "We didn't see her when we found you."  
  
"She hooked up with a bunch of girls at the party."  
  
"Ah," Duo said, smirking. "Well, that'll teach you to play the chivalrous male."  
  
Heero mustered up as much of a glare as he could manage in his current state. "You think this is funny? You have no idea what I feel like right now."  
  
Duo's smirk only grew. "Au contraire, my friend. You aren't the only one who has experimented with fraternity parties. I went to quiet a few of them my freshman year before I decided that if you didn't want to drink, they were really pretty boring. I know exactly what you're going through, and that's why I brought you this."  
  
So saying, he reached over to the small desk next to him and produced a glass of water and two aspirin tablets.  
  
Mere words could not describe Heero's gratitude, but he tried anyway. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem," Duo said.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Where the hell were you?" Wufei asked as Heero dragged himself through the door. "You didn't come back last night."  
  
"I spent the night over at Duo's place," Heero answered.  
  
"Relena said that you enjoyed yourself a little too much at the party."  
  
"I didn't enjoy myself at all!" Heero snarled. His headache still lingered, and he felt extremely irritable.  
  
Wufei eyed him, opened his mouth to chastise him for drinking too much, then thought better of it and snapped his mouth shut.  
  
"So," Heero asked, "what did you do last night?"  
  
"I plotted my revenge against that evil woman."  
  
"Who, Dorothy? What are you going to do?"  
  
A rather creepy smile spread across Wufei's face. "You'll see."  
  
Tbc  
  
Note: While I have not yet attended such a party myself, I draw my information from my roommate, who is in a sorority, and is therefore obligated to attend some such parties. 


	9. Belated Revelations

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 9: Belated Revelations  
  
Heero discovered on Monday what Wufei had planned for Dorothy when, upon leaving the dorms in the morning to go to class, he noticed that the objects flying in the breeze atop the flag pole did not look like a flag. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a woman's bra and underwear. With cheeks tinted slightly pink, he continued on his way.  
  
He tried not to think about Wufei's action and the repercussions it was bound to have while he was in class. However, once he was safely ensconced in the library with Duo, he told his friend all about the incident. Duo seemed amused by the whole thing, but then he didn't have to share a room with the offender, and therefore was safely removed from any acts of vengeance. For Heero was sure that there would be acts of vengeance, and he told Duo as much.  
  
"Dorothy will never let this slide," he said as he followed Duo, watching him put books back on the shelves. "She's not going to take the humiliation of every guy in the housing unit being able to ogle her underwear lying down."  
  
Duo shrugged. "You know what I think the problem is? Both Wufei and Dorothy take these things far too seriously. If it were Hilde, she'd just write it off as childish. She once said that any guy who had nothing better to do than ogle her underpants deserved her sympathy more than her contempt."  
  
"Well, she may be right, but neither one of them is Hilde," Heero pointed out.  
  
"True," Duo said.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, in room 210, a discussion was taking place.  
  
"Oh, he's going to get it this time," Dorothy muttered, pacing across the small room. "He really has no idea who he's messing with."  
  
"Don't you think you should just complain to the RA and leave it at that?" Relena said, not at all liking the rather feral gleam in her roommate's eyes.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous," Dorothy scoffed. "This is between him and me; the RA has nothing to do with it. Anyway, he'd just scold me for starting the whole thing in the first place. Which, by the way, I _didn't_. I put the cough syrup in Heero's shampoo; I can't help it if Wufei was idiot enough to use it too."  
  
"So that _was_ you!"  
  
Dorothy and Relena both turned, realizing belatedly that the door to their room was open. Every girl living on the second floor stood in the hall outside, listening attentively. "We thought you were the one responsible for the two shirtless guys running up and down the hall," one of them said, "but we weren't sure."  
  
Dorothy gapped at them for a minute, then stuck her chin in the air defiantly. "I am quite proud to say that, yes, I was responsible for that."  
  
A female voice rose from the back of the group. "Do you take commissions?"  
  
Dorothy sweat dropped.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Underwear up the flagpole?"  
  
Wufei smirked. "It worked, didn't it?"  
  
Heero eyed his roommate with something akin to disbelief. "I just can't see you going into some girl's room and rooting through her underwear drawer."  
  
"Well, I wore gloves," Wufei admitted.  
  
"You what?"  
  
"I got one of the guys in chemistry to swipe me a pair of gloves from the lab. My hands smelled like latex for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. You should have seen the look on her face when she saw."  
  
Heero shivered, not at all sorry that he _hadn't_ seen the look on Dorothy's face. Imagining it was bad enough.  
  
~*~*~  
  
By the next day, it became apparent that Wufei had been right about one thing at least: this meant war.  
  
Heero set his book bag down in the hall as he fumbled in his pocket for his keys. Since the incident over Christmas break, Wufei had insisted that they lock the door whenever both of them were out, and they had both been away at classes all morning.  
  
When he finally got the door open, he thought for a moment that he was in the wrong room. But no, his half of it still looked as it always did. It was Wufei's half that had suffered. His stern, gray sheets had been replaced by pink ones, and little pink bows and streamers adorned the room at regular intervals. The plain, white wall seemed to have disappeared beneath a plethora of Hello Kitty stickers. There were even a few cutesy stuffed animals thrown in for effect.  
  
Quietly, Heero backed out of his room, shutting the door and relocking it. He didn't really need anything out of there anyway, and there was no way he wanted to be around when this one hit. The library was a good place to be, he decided, safely removed from Wufei and the explosion that was sure to follow when he found out.  
  
As he picked up his backpack and headed back out, Heero considered asking his roommate to stop locking the door, since the only person it seemed to slow down was him.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Relena gazed mournfully at her stripped bed. "I understand your motivation and all, but why did you have to use _my_ sheets?"  
  
"Oh, Relena," Dorothy said airily. "Just think; it was for a good cause. And you might actually get a hot Asian guy between your sheets now."  
  
~*~*~  
  
As Heero trailed after Duo, who was still on duty and was busily stacking books, he told his companion all about the war that was brewing in his dorm. As usual, Duo found the whole thing more amusing than anything else. He was especially amused by Wufei's admission about the gloves.  
  
"He's such a prude sometimes. I wonder that he's even survived this long into the war. But look on the bright side," Duo said. "Dorothy's clearly not after you any more. You said she didn't even touch your side of the room."  
  
"That's true," Heero said. "But I still have to live with a pissed off roommate."  
  
"Well, if it gets too bad, you're welcome to spend the night at my place, provided that you don't mind sleeping on the couch."  
  
Heero nodded, suddenly reminded of something. "Hey, Duo. I never did thank you for letting me stay that night after the party, did I?"  
  
Duo waved that away. "It was nothing."  
  
"I acted like a fool," Heero muttered ruefully.  
  
"You sure did," Duo agreed amiably. "But that's okay. Like I said, I did a fair amount of that myself, freshman year. It's all part of the learning experience. Next time, you'll know better."  
  
"There won't _be_ a next time!" Heero said with conviction.  
  
"See? You've already learned your lesson."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero had been right about Wufei's reaction to the defiling of his room. His roommate was still fuming loudly when he got back late that afternoon. The days that followed weren't much better. Poor Relena ended up suffering when a bunch of water balloons intended for Dorothy fell on her instead as she was opening the door. Dorothy seemed to take any affront to her roommate as an affront to her, and the next day, Wufei found an exploded soda bomb in his backpack that had converted most of the papers inside to a carbonated, caffeinated, sticky mess.  
  
Heero became extremely cautious about entering and leaving his room after Relena's example, and he tried his best to keep from becoming involved in any way. However, he did begin a score sheet, which he tacked to the door so that their other dorm mates, all of whom knew what was going on, could keep up. He began to make duplicates after Wufei ripped down the first one in a fit of rage because Dorothy was winning.  
  
As the war raged on between the two contestants, Heero found himself spending more and more time either in the library or in the lounge of his building. He was sitting quietly in the latter location one night, when Relena approached him, looking slightly nervous.  
  
"Hi, Heero," she said. "Mind if I join you?"  
  
He shrugged indifferently. "You can do as you please,"  
  
She smiled and sat down across from him. Pulling out some papers, she shuffled them haphazardly, but she clearly wasn't very intent on working on them. "Dorothy hasn't been bothering you?" she asked.  
  
"No," he answered. "She seems to be concentrating all of her effort on Wufei."  
  
"That's good," Relena smiled. "I asked her not to bother you. I mean, I know what it feels like to be the poor, innocent roommate caught in the crossfire."  
  
Remembering the incident of the water balloons, Heero nodded understandingly. "She hasn't bothered me."  
  
"That's good," Relena repeated vaguely. She seemed to be watching him very intently, and Heero wondered if he had something strange on his face or between his teeth.  
  
"You know," Relena began after clearing her throat slightly, "we should probably get out of the dorms sometimes just to avoid problems with them."  
  
Heero snorted. "That's what I've been doing. Why do you think I'm never here in the afternoons?"  
  
"Well, but..." Relena sputtered, going rather red in the face. Heero watched her patiently, and she finally blurted, "I meant, would you like to go out with me sometime?"  
  
Heero blinked. She was asking him out on a date? "Not really," he said.  
  
Relena's face was still an unnatural shade of red, and her mouth was turned down in a frown. "Oh. Why not?" she asked in a disappointed voice.  
  
Why not indeed? Heero shrugged. "I don't go out with girls." That much was true. He had never been on a date with a girl, and he didn't really want to start.  
  
Relena's lips quivered, and her eyes were downcast. "I see," she said, voice sounding as if it had to squeeze its way out of her throat. "In that case, I won't bother you anymore." With that, she stood up and rushed out of the lounge.  
  
Heero watched her go with confusion and a small amount of trepidation. She seemed so upset, but he had only told her the truth. What else was he supposed to do? He sighed, wishing for Duo's presence. His vocal friend would surely be able to tell him what he had done wrong. As it was, whatever he had said was said, and all he could do was wait.  
  
He didn't have to wait long. The lounge door flew open, banging against the wall with a crash that nearly made him jump out of his seat. Dorothy strode in, looking as pissed as Heero had ever seen her. It was enough to almost make him cower in his seat. Almost.  
  
"You are such a prick!" Dorothy growled, leaning down so that she was right in his face, but still managing to loom above him. "Stringing Relena along like that!"  
  
"What?" Heero gasped. "I didn't string her along!"  
  
"Oh no?" Dorothy snarled. "She thought that she actually had a chance with you!"  
  
"I never..." Heero stammered. "I didn't..."  
  
"And now you go and tell her that you're not interested in women!"  
  
Heero opened his mouth to deny it, then reconsidered. While those weren't his exact words, it was more or less what he had said, and it was true. "So?" he said.  
  
"So, if you're gay, why didn't you go and live on the third floor of Clay like the rest of them?!"  
  
"The third floor of Clay?" Heero repeated dumbly.  
  
"Yeah! You know, the Rainbow Pride Floor? That way, all the girls would know you were off limits!"  
  
Heero goggled like a fish. The third floor of Clay... That was where Duo had lived...  
  
"Oh, forget it!" Dorothy spat in disgust. "You're so clueless!" She stormed out as noisily as she had come in.  
  
Heero stared after her blankly, not really seeing what was in front of him. The third floor of Clay... "So he _was_ trying to tell me something," he said to no one in particular. Once supplied with the connection, his brain made the leap to figure out exactly why Duo had drawn attention to that particular bit of information.  
  
Duo was interested in him.  
  
tbc  
  
Yes! Finally! A chapter where something actually happens! Actual plot development! I knew I would get around to it eventually. 


	10. Confusing Situations

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 10: Confusing Situations  
  
Heero had barely come through the library doors when he heard Duo calling him. He quickly spotted his companion standing over by the stairs, waving at him.  
  
"What's up?" Duo asked. "You said that you wanted to talk to me?"  
  
Heero nodded. "In private," he said.  
  
Duo studied him for a moment, wondering what this was all about, then shrugged. "Okay, if you say so. Let's go find a spot."  
  
The library was full that afternoon, and for a little while Duo was worried about finding a seat. His curiosity had been stirred, and he wanted to sit someplace fairly secluded, where he could be alone with Heero and not worry about being observed or distracted. However, the closest thing he could find to an empty area was on the third floor in the very back, behind the rows of bookshelves. Even that place wasn't completely vacant. A girl was at one of the desks, but her head was on the table, and judging by the way her mouth was hanging open, she was fast asleep. (1)  
  
Duo chuckled. "I swear, sometimes I think people come here just to sleep. Everyday you see them, conked out in the window seats or at the desks. Don't they have anything better to do?"  
  
Heero gestured at the open chemistry book lying on the desk next to the girl's head. "I think she was trying to study."  
  
Duo leaned across the desk to peer at the book upside down. "Is chemistry really that boring?"  
  
"Yes." Heero set his book bag down on an adjacent desk and began to pull out his folder and books. "Not that you'll ever have to find out."  
  
Duo's smile was unabashed. "I love being a liberal arts person."  
  
Heero gave him a halfhearted glare as he sat down. "Stop gloating."  
  
Duo shut up, but it took him a little longer to banish the smirk from his face. However, presently, he became serious and asked, "What's up?"  
  
"You said that you lived on the third floor of Clay last year, right?"  
  
Duo's heart plummeted. The only reason Heero would bring that up again was because he finally realized its significance. That meant that the moment Duo had been both hoping for and dreading was here; the moment where Heero told him whether he was or he wasn't. Still, he took some comfort from the fact that Heero didn't sound particularly accusatory.  
  
"Yeah, Quatre and I shared a room up there."  
  
"Just a room?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo went very red in the face. "We were roommates only. It's not like that!" /Great,/ he thought, chest constricting. /He's one of the homophobic types who thinks that the only thing gays are interested in is having sex./ Of course, for a large chunk of his life, sex had dominated his thoughts, but in that respect, he was not unlike most boys his age.  
  
"I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you," Heero said, noticing that Duo looked upset. "I just wanted to know."  
  
"Well, it's not like that. Quatre and I are friends, but he already has a boyfriend." He studied Heero, then asked, "Why did you want to know?"  
  
It was Heero's turn to go slightly red. "No reason really... Just curious."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow. If Heero had simply shrugged and looked nonchalant, Duo might have believed him. As it was, it seemed that Heero was a terrible liar. Duo could only hope that he was right in his assumptions about Heero's real reason for asking.  
  
"I wish I could be as lucky as Quatre is," he said clearly, watching Heero closely. "Having a great boyfriend and all. I hate being single."  
  
"I'm surprised you still are," Heero said, face carefully neutral and betraying none of his thoughts. "There must have been other guys in the third floor who were interested."  
  
Duo made a face. "Not really. At least, none that I was interested in. And not everyone on the floor was gay, just most of us. Anyway, the whole point of the thing wasn't so that we could find a date. The floor was created so that we knew we would have a place to live free from a lot of homophobic tripe and insults. Most of us were just happy to have friends, and we didn't worry as much about dating."  
  
Heero shrugged and admitted, "I don't know much about the whole thing. I only learned last night what that floor was."  
  
"Only last night?" Duo asked, still a little incredulous, even though he knew Heero could be a little slow on the uptake. Okay, more than a little slow sometimes.  
  
Heero looked mildly embarrassed. "I guess I'm not very perceptive when it comes to those things."  
  
Duo laughed out loud, almost forgetting about their sleeping companion. He managed to tone it down to chuckles pretty fast, but he was still grinning when he said, "Heero, no offense or anything, but that's the understatement of the year."  
  
"I know," Heero said, hanging his head slightly. "It must be a pain sometimes."  
  
Duo walked slowly over to where Heero was sitting. Leaning down, he put his face very close to Heero's. "Does it seem like I mind?" he said.  
  
Heero looked up, an expression of slight surprise on his face. Still, Duo took heart from the fact that he didn't squirm or shift away uncomfortably. "You don't mind?" Heero asked.  
  
"Not a bit," Duo said, reaching up to take Heero's chin gently in one hand. Heero swallowed slightly, but still made no move to remove the hand. Encouraged, Duo leaned in even closer. He was so close; his lips were mere millimeters from Heero's...  
  
The girl at the desk stirred.  
  
Instantly, Heero jerked, breaking Duo's grasp and turning his head to stare at their neighbor. Duo was considering taking Heero's face in his hands and trying again when the girl abruptly sat up. Pulling back her sweatshirt sleeve on one wrist, she glanced at her watch, then muttered a curse. Rising quickly from her seat, she seized her backpack, stuffed her books into it, and hurried off.  
  
Duo watched her go, then, when he was sure she was gone, turned back to Heero. For a moment, he felt like muttering a few curses of his own. Heero's face was down turned, and he looked at the floor. Still, Duo could see how red the tops of his ears were.  
  
"I'm sorry," Duo said.  
  
Heero didn't answer.  
  
"I, uh, I've got to go," Duo said hastily, not sure he could stand to be around once Heero decided he did want to speak to him again. "I've got class in a few minutes."  
  
Grabbing his own backpack, he started to head off, then stopped and turned back. Heero was still seated just as he had left him, his surprise evidently having not worn off yet. Still, Duo was unable to resist adding hopefully, "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Heero still made no answer.  
  
Sighing heavily, Duo went down the stairs and out the doors. Outside, he spotted the formerly sleeping girl wrestling with the lock on her bike. Striding up to her, he glared menacingly until he had her attention.  
  
"You have the worst god-damned timing of anyone I know, do you know that?"  
  
So saying, he strode off, leaving the girl gaping after him in surprise. "What did I do?" she finally managed to ask, but by then, Duo was gone.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero ducked his head as he opened the door and flipped on the light, sure that his face was still red after the incident at the library. He was easily embarrassed, and the thought that the girl at the table might have seen him was mortifying. He wasn't sure his face would ever return to its normal color again.  
  
He was hoping against hope that not only would Wufei be out, but that his room would not prove to be booby trapped by Dorothy. As it turned out, only one of his wishes was true.  
  
"You're back early," Wufei said from his bed.  
  
"Yeah," Heero answered. "Duo had to leave early."  
  
"Well, turn off the light, if you please," Wufei said. "You can use the lamp, but the overhead light is too bright."  
  
Heero stopped to study his roommate, who he realized was lying in bed under a mound of covers. His face was a little pale too...  
  
"What happened to you?" he asked.  
  
"I'm coming down with something," Wufei answered. "I am not yet sure what, exactly, but if you will kindly turn off the light, I'm going back to sleep."  
  
After turning on his small lamp, Heero consented to turn off the light. As he sat as his desk, trying to do his homework by the feeble light the lamp cast, he wished that he had been a little faster to recover himself earlier in the library. Maybe, if he had been, he might have arrested Duo's flight. As it was, they had a lot that needed talking about.  
  
tbc  
  
1) Ehehe... That would be me. I swear, they release sleep pheromones in the library or something. Every time I go there to study, I end up falling asleep. It's getting to the point where Renee's starting to think I have narcolepsy. 


	11. Distressing Disappointments

(Rapunzel is lying face down on her bed, face buried in her pillow. A muffled monologue rises from her inert form. At the head of the bed sits her muse, looking down at the incapacitated author with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.)  
  
Rapunzel: ...ligands, totipotency, interfascicular cambium, null clines...  
  
Muse: She's been like this for a while now. I think the midterms have finally short circuited her brain.  
  
Rapunzel: ...monocots, redox, lignin, Bt corn, vascular bundles, electrochemical cells...  
  
Muse: I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but as you can see (gestures at author), I'm having a little trouble getting her to write.  
  
Rapunzel: ...crystal field splitting, equilibria, cotyledons, biotechnology, Monera...  
  
Muse: ::hopes off the bed:: That's it. I'm going to go get the cables to try and jumpstart her brain.  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 11: Distressing Disappointments  
  
Plopping down on a nice patch of grass outside one of the buildings, Duo dug his rather squished sandwich out of his backpack and settled down to lunch. He kept on having to remind himself not to scarf it down in an effort to get to the library faster.  
  
/Relax,/ he told himself. /Heero's in class right now. You've got at least forty minutes before he gets out; slow down and enjoy your lunch./  
  
Still, he ate a little faster than was necessary. He really wanted to talk to Heero, to find out if the previous day had wrecked everything, or if he still had a chance. The only way to find out was to ask Heero, and the best place to talk to Heero was the library.  
  
So to the library he went. Staking out a post near the stairs where he could watch the front entrance, Duo dropped his backpack and prepared to wait. It was about five minutes before two, a little early, but he wanted to make sure that he caught Heero. So he waited.  
  
And he waited. A stream of people constantly flowed through the front doors. One girl got scolded by the man standing watch for bringing a water bottle in. She tucked it in her backpack and went on her way.  
  
Duo glanced at his watch. Two o'clock exactly. Heero's class let out at two. It would take him less than five minutes to get to the library. Possibly less, if his class let out early. Eagerly, Duo went back to watching the entrance.  
  
Still, the stream flowed. More and more people came in. He'd never noticed before how popular the library was at this hour. There were people at all of the desks in the front. A long line stretched out in front of the desk where books were checked out. The girl at the end of the line had her back to him. From behind, she looked rather like his friend Kristen, but probably wasn't.  
  
He glanced at his watch. 2:03. Any minute now.  
  
2:04. Two girls walked towards the exit, looking almost like twins in their blue jeans and matching sweatshirts, each with the college name printed across the front. Even their hair was similar; both sported ponytails of matching length. Chatting amicably, they left the library together.  
  
2:05. There were plenty of Asian students entering the library. Duo scanned their faces, hoping to see the now familiar blue eyes. A young man gave him a strange look when he noticed Duo staring at him. No one else noticed him. Heero wasn't among them.  
  
2:08. The girl who looked like Kristen from behind but probably wasn't was at the desk now. She set down her armful of books and her card. The lady helping her was temporarily distracted as a young man set off the alarm designed to prevent stealing of library books. She called him back and made him pass through again.  
  
2:10. The Girl-Who-Looked-Like-Kristen-From-Behind-But-Probably-Wasn't turned around and became the Girl-Who-Looked-Like-Kristen-From-Behind-But- Definitely-Wasn't. Their faces were very different. A lot of people looked alike when viewed from behind, Duo mused. Except Heero. He was distinctive no matter which angle he was viewed from.  
  
2:15. Duo wandered out in front of the library to see if Heero had thought to maybe wait out there. It was cold outside, despite the fact that it was still early afternoon. The sun was struggling to shine feebly through the clouds. None of the people outside enjoying its dubious light was Heero. Duo went back inside.  
  
2:20. There were still plenty of people who wanted to get into the library. Another girl had been scolded for carrying in a water bottle. People milled around everywhere. None of them was Heero.  
  
At 2:40, Duo gave up and went upstairs to study until his shift started. For some reason, he couldn't seem to concentrate on his books.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You were wrong, Quatre."  
  
Quatre, who had just come in and was in the process of taking his backpack off, jumped about a half a foot. Looking around the room for the source of the voice, he finally spotted Duo sitting slouched on the couch, looking dismal.  
  
"What's the matter, Duo?" he asked.  
  
"You were wrong," Duo repeated. "You said a little hope never hurt anyone."  
  
Quatre moved to sit on the couch next to his friend. Settling an arm gently around his shoulders, he asked gently, "What's wrong, Duo? What happened?"  
  
"He stood me up," Duo answered sullenly. "I waited for over a half an hour, and he never showed."  
  
"Now, Duo, maybe something came up. He could have a legitimate excuse," Quatre said, attempting to console his friend.  
  
"Yeah," Duo answered despondently. "More likely I frightened him off by trying to kiss him yesterday."  
  
Quatre blinked. "You tried to kiss him yesterday?"  
  
"Yup. Came damn close to it too. That damn girl just had to wake up right then, didn't she?"  
  
"What did Heero say to this?"  
  
"Nothing," Duo said. "Absolutely nothing. He wouldn't talk at all."  
  
"Oh Duo." Quatre pulled Duo into a comforting embrace. "I'm sorry. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don't."  
  
"I hate it when they don't," Duo muttered. "I wish I knew what Heero was thinking. Wish I knew where he was this afternoon too."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero rolled over and reached for the water bottle sitting on his desk. Since his and Wufei's beds were parallel to each other and about the same height, he had a perfect opening to glare across the room at him. And glare he did.  
  
"This is all your fault," he groused.  
  
Wufei muttered something that was probably Chinese vulgarity and glared back. "And I suppose you think I vindictively decided to share my germs with you for the sole purpose of making you miserable? Ha! Believe me, given my choice, I would rather have you healthy and out of here than making my life even more miserable than it already is!"  
  
Heero didn't reply to that, but his glare lost none of its intensity. Wufei snorted and rolled over, leaving Heero to glare at his back. Since this was a rather pointless exercise, Heero turned his eyes away to glance at the clock. It was almost five. Not only had he missed all of his classes, he had slept right through his usual study time in the library with Duo. Not that they had got much studying done the previous day...  
  
Heero frown. They hadn't accomplished much of anything the previous day, even talking, which was what they needed to do most. Talking to Duo had been at the top of that day's agenda until he'd come down with whatever bug Wufei had acquired. Now he wasn't sure he could drag his sorry carcass out of the building, let alone to the library. Talking to Duo would simply have to wait.  
  
~*~*~  
  
A week passed before Heero felt sufficiently well to even attend his classes or go anywhere farther away than the dinning hall. Even then, he began to wonder if he was really well enough to be out so much. By the afternoon, he had a terrible headache, though he wasn't sure whether it had been brought on by the illness or the fact that he was trying to keep up with his classes after having missed several lectures. As he stalked towards the library, he couldn't help but wonder dismally if he would ever manage to catch up again.  
  
As another stab of pain in his head almost made him wince, Heero wished that he had someone to gripe to. Not that griping would change his situation any, but it would make him feel marginally better. Duo was a great person to gripe to, Heero had discovered. He listened attentively and expressed sympathy in all the right places. Yes, talking to Duo was bound to make him feel at least a little bit better. Maybe he could even ask him for some aspirin. Quatre occasionally experienced migraines, and since he and Duo often went to the campus together, Duo had taken to carrying a back-up supply of analgesics. Heero thought that it was unlikely that Duo would mind sharing the supply with a friend  
  
With those encouraging thoughts in his mind, Heero entered the library and headed over to the table where he and Duo usually sat. Thanks to his week of lying in bed most of the time, he had plenty to work on, and was ready for an afternoon of studying alternated with chatting. Walking around the bookshelves, Heero opened his mouth to greet Duo, then closed it again.  
  
The table was empty.  
  
Well, Duo had been late before. Heero was not overly put out. He set his bag down and began trying to catch up on his reading for anthropology.  
  
By three o' clock, Heero was becoming a little worried. Duo still hadn't arrived, and Heero knew that the other young man was due to start work around that time. To his knowledge, Duo had never missed a day of work before. Concerned, Heero repacked his book bag and began to wander around the library, looking for his friend. Duo usually worked stacking books, but even after Heero had peered around every bookshelf on the first floor, his friend refused to be found.  
  
Disappointed, Heero moved up to the second floor, and repeated his search there. When he had covered the entire second floor and still not seen hide nor hair of Duo, he moved up to the third floor. By the time he had finished combing through the third floor, Heero had come to a conclusion. Either Duo had also caught whatever bug he and Wufei had had and was home sick, or, far more likely, he was trying to avoid him.  
  
Leaning his head against the wall, Heero resisted the urge to slam his forehead against it repeatedly. They never had cleared up the matter of the almost kiss the previous week, and now Duo was avoiding him. That was hardly what he wanted, but he couldn't tell Duo that unless he actually located the other. Right then, that seemed unlikely. Duo had been working at the library longer than Heero had been on the campus, and if he didn't want to be found, Heero was sure that he wasn't going to find him.  
  
Still, he couldn't let Duo go on thinking that Heero hated him when nothing could be further from the truth.  
  
Heero closed his eyes, trying to formulate a plan, a way out of this situation. He came up with two possible solutions to the problem of finding Duo. One was to simply go to his apartment and bang on the door. However, that one was likely to backfire, since it would be simple enough for Duo to get either Hilde or Quatre to say he wasn't at home. Depending on what Duo had told them, they might easily agree to cover for him.  
  
The other option involved showing up when Duo didn't expect him. Heero knew that Duo worked mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but he had never been to the library then because he had morning classes. Duo, who knew what Heero's schedule looked like almost as well as Heero himself, knew this and was therefore likely stop bothering to hide then.  
  
Heero's jaw firmed and his face took on a look of grim determination. One way or another, he was going to talk to Duo.  
  
tbc 


	12. Eventual Understandings

Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 12: Eventual Understandings  
  
At ten o'clock on Tuesday morning, Heero strode purposefully up the library steps. The look of grim determination on his face and the way his eyes never wavered but stared ahead at the doors caused the other students around him to watch with curiosity. One young woman scurried hastily out of his path as he marched through the automatic doors and into the building. Nor did his pace abate once he was inside. Within five minutes, he had searched the entire first floor.  
  
Heero climbed the stairs to the second floor, a scowl set on his face. So far he wasn't having any more success than he had had the previous day. /That braided idiot had better be here!/ he thought.  
  
Then, as he started his rounds on the second floor, he caught sight of a braid.  
  
~*~*~  
  
As he pushed his cart full of books along the isle between the shelves, Duo scanned the book titles. Most of them seemed to be social science books, a change from the literature books and poetry volumes he had been stacking for the past few days. Most of the literature books were kept on the fourth floor. He had requested to work either on the fourth floor or in the reserves section, two places he knew Heero never went. He didn't want to run into the other young man, even by accident, and he fancied that Heero didn't want to run into him either. This way, Heero could still come by the library to study without being bothered by Duo's presence.  
  
Duo was so busy wallowing in self pity that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him or sense the presence of another person until a hand shot out, grabbed his braid, and pulled. Hard.  
  
"OW!!" Duo yelped, spinning around to confront his tormentor. "What the fu..." He trailed off. "Heero?"  
  
"That," Heero said calmly, "was for being an idiot and avoiding me."  
  
Duo had to open and shut his mouth a few times before he was able to work up the proper indignation. "And you're one to talk!" he snapped angrily, grabbing a handful of Heero's messy hair and preparing to yank it in retaliation. "I spent three days waiting for you to come back, but you never showed!"  
  
"I was sick," Heero said calmly, making no move to remove the hand tangled in his hair. "What's your excuse?"  
  
Duo paused. "You were sick?"  
  
Heero nodded. "With the flu or something. I had to skip classes for a week. Wufei had it too; I think he gave it to me."  
  
Duo blinked, his eyes uncertain but hopeful. The hand in Heero's hair tightened but didn't pull. "You weren't mad at me?"  
  
"No, of course not," Heero said. "I just wanted to- mph!"  
  
Duo didn't wait to hear what Heero had wanted to do; he did what he had wanted to do for months and kissed him. Heero was caught unprepared and stumbled backwards into the bookshelves. Books fell down to land by their feet.  
  
"Duo!" Heero gasped when Duo let him. "Don't!"  
  
Duo drew back, uncertainty filling his eyes again.  
  
"You shouldn't do that," Heero continued. "I might still be contagious. You could catch whatever I had."  
  
Duo's eyes lit up. "I'll chance it!" he growled, and then kissed him again.  
  
When they broke apart the second time, Duo smiled rather ruefully at Heero. "I probably should have asked first if you minded, shouldn't I?"  
  
"Yes," Heero said, "but it's okay. I don't mind at all."  
  
Duo beamed at him. Then he frown slightly and glanced at his watch. "Wait a minute. What are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be in class right now."  
  
Heero shrugged. "I'm ditching, I guess."  
  
Duo's jaw dropped. "_You_? Mr. 'I've Never Missed a Lecture in My Life'?"  
  
Heero looked slightly embarrassed. "I needed to talk to you, and I couldn't find you at the normal times, so here I am."  
  
"You skipped class for me?" Duo said, his smile seeming at once amused and soft. "Heero, that's... Well, it's not exactly romantic, but I'm touched."  
  
"Hn," Heero said. "I've already missed class for the last week; one more day isn't going to hurt."  
  
"Shh! Heero, you're bursting my bubble!" Duo said mournfully.  
  
Heero smiled and Duo laughed, and then they both knelt down and began retrieving the books that had fallen off the shelves earlier.  
  
"I've made more work for you," Heero said apologetically.  
  
"Hardly," Duo said. "Compared to all that," he gestured at the cart full of books, "this is hardly anything. Anyway, I get company now, so that makes it worth while."  
  
"You could have had company yesterday too, if I had been able to find you," Heero said. "Where were you anyway?"  
  
"Up on the fourth floor," Duo answered. "And if I'd known you wanted to talk to me, I would have made sure you found me."  
  
He finished putting the books back in their proper order and turned to find Heero looking slightly confused. "What?"  
  
"This library has a fourth floor?"  
  
Duo laughed. "Yeah, that was my reaction when I first found out too. It does, but you can only get there using the side stairs or the elevator. Most people just use the front stairs and never bother going up there."  
  
"So it's never very crowded, huh?"  
  
"That's right."  
  
Heero looked as though he were contemplating something. "Once I know where it is, I think you should stack books up there more often."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well, if not many people go up there, it shouldn't be too hard to find a private place."  
  
Duo smirked. "Heero, I like the way your mind works."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Quatre watched wide eyed as Duo sauntered through the kitchen, whistling lightly as he prepared dinner. "Well, someone certainly seems to be in a much better mood."  
  
"Good," Hilde said, not even bothering to look at her cheerful roommate. "He's no fun when he's moping around."  
  
Quatre had to agree that; the apartment had been far too quiet and gloomy for the past few days.  
  
"So, Duo," Hilde called into the kitchen. "I take it you've finally got yourself a boyfriend."  
  
Duo paused, one hand still reaching up towards the cupboard above the stove. "Is it that obvious?"  
  
Hilde nodded. "The smile is a dead giveaway. Quatre only smiles like that after he's been laid."  
  
"Hilde!" Quatre sputtered, going bright red in the face.  
  
Even Duo blushed slightly. "It's not like that."  
  
"Not yet, maybe."  
  
Duo decided to keep his mouth shut.  
  
"So how far have you gotten anyway?"  
  
Duo lifted his chin in the air defiantly. "I don't see that that's any of your business."  
  
"You tell her, Duo," Quatre muttered, his face still rather pink.  
  
"Of course it's my business," Hilde said. "Remember what I told you about sleeping just on the other side of the wall? Even if it isn't my business now, it will be soon."  
  
Duo was suddenly very busy with the pot he had on the stove, and kept his back turned to Hilde.  
  
"Men are so easily embarrassed," she sighed before getting up from the table and heading towards her room.  
  
Duo turned around and looked straight at Quatre's still slightly red tinged countenance. "We need to find that woman a boyfriend to get her off of our backs."  
  
"Agreed," said Quatre.  
  
Duo sighed and went back to his cooking. "At least Heero doesn't have to worry about that kind of interrogation from Wufei."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero might not have been subjected to an interrogation, but what he got when he returned to his room was not much better.  
  
"That bloody woman! She'll suspect me of murdering her roommate next!"  
  
"Wufei," Heero said, feeling his good mood slipping through his fingers at the mere sight of his angry roommate, "slow down and start from the beginning. What's Dorothy done this time?"  
  
"It's not what she's done, it's what she's accused me of doing!"  
  
/Just be patient,/ Heero told himself. /You know how he gets; getting frustrated with him won't help./ Out loud, he said, "What's she accused you of doing?"  
  
"She accused me of killing her goldfish!"  
  
Heero blinked. "That's all?"  
  
"What do you mean, 'That's all'? It's more than enough!"  
  
Heero sat down, sensing the beginning of a rant. He wasn't disappointed.  
  
"How could I possibly be responsible for the death of her fish? I didn't even know she had a fish! On top of that, I've been sick for the past week, and in no condition to drag myself down the hall, let alone up the stairs, except for absolute emergencies! Goldfish don't live that long anyway; hers probably died from natural causes. But does she listen to reason? Oh no! Just because I pulled a few harmless pranks on her, she's got to blame everything that goes wrong on me!"  
  
Heero sighed and wished he had gone home with Duo. The war between Dorothy and Wufei had been more or less at a standstill for the past week, due to the fact that one of the contestants was out of commission. Heero was not at all pleased to see the conflict resurrected.  
  
"You go up there!" Wufei was saying. "Try to talk some reason into her! Goodness knows I can't!"  
  
"Me?" Heero said. "Why should I go up there? She won't listen to me."  
  
"You'll have better luck than I did," Wufei grumbled.  
  
"Why do I think that's not saying much?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Thirty minutes later, as he stood before room 210, knocking at the door, Heero asked himself why in the world he was doing this. Of course he knew why; any chance, however small, at forestalling Dorothy's wrath was a chance to be grabbed at. Still, he would rather have been almost anywhere else. After his little "misunderstanding" with Relena, he knew he hardly ranked high on her list of favorite people.  
  
Fortunately or unfortunately for him, Dorothy was out, and it was Relena who answered the door. "Yes?" she said questioningly when she saw him. "What do you want?"  
  
"Listen," Heero said. "About this thing with the goldfish..."  
  
"Oh. You've heard about that already?" Relena seemed to be avoiding his eyes, but she spoke clearly enough. "Poor Bubbles. We held a little funeral for him in the girls' bathroom this morning."  
  
"Wufei says that Dorothy thinks he killed your fish."  
  
"I know she does," Relena said. "See, the thing was, we just got him a few weeks ago, so he was actually a pretty young fish. That's why she thinks Wufei did it."  
  
"But he couldn't have!" Heero insisted. "We've both been sick for the past week; he's barely been able to leave the room, and if he had, I would have known it."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure he didn't do it," Relena said. "But Dorothy..."  
  
"Could you tell her about his alibi?" Heero asked, feeling rather foolish. Here he was, talking about the death of a goldfish as though it were a murder.  
  
"Sure," Relena said, still not looking at him. "I'll pass it along. But I don't know if she'll be convinced."  
  
"Thanks," Heero said. He knew the chances of Dorothy letting go of her conviction and her grudge against Wufei were slim, but slim was still better than none. At least he hoped so.  
  
Tbc  
  
I hope Blue Jeans gave her fish sensible names this time. I would really hate to have a repeat episode of the last time she had a fish named Bubbles... 


	13. Hurtful Exchanges

Yes! I've actually finished another chapter! It's amazing!  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2)  
  
Welcome Distractions By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 13: Hurtful Exchanges  
  
Heero had no idea whether or not Dorothy accepted Wufei's innocence in the matter of the fish, but he suspected not. That just gave him one more excuse to be out of the dorms and either in the library or at Duo's apartment. Together they discovered that the fourth floor, while not heavily populated most times, was still a little too crowded for their purposes, but that the scientific periodicals room was a great place to make out.  
  
Duo's apartment, on the other hand, was not a suitable place, since Hilde and Quatre were liable to walk in on them. Quatre usually just ignored them if he caught them kissing, or blushed and left them alone if he caught them making out. Hilde was not nearly so polite. She would make catcalls or commentary. When she broke out the score cards, Duo finally snapped.  
  
"Now Duo," Quatre said soothingly, patting his twitching roommate on the back as Hilde wailed in the background and tried to put out the fire that was consuming her score cards, "you know she doesn't really mean anything by it. She did the same thing to me when Trowa and I started dating. Eventually, she just got bored and stopped."  
  
"That was different. You weren't living in an apartment with her then," Duo snapped. "She didn't even live on the same floor. You could always get away from her."  
  
"Still," Quatre said, "burning the cards seems a little extreme. What if you'd set off the fire alarm?"  
  
"That kiss was not an eight," Duo said irritably. "That kiss was a ten. Wasn't it a ten, Heero?"  
  
"Uh," Heero said, thinking that it would be a good idea not to get involved in this one.  
  
"See?" Duo said. "What does she know about it anyway?"  
  
Quatre sighed. "I'm not saying you shouldn't be irritated with her, but please don't burn down the apartment."  
  
"If you do," Hilde called, still tossing water on the ashen remains of her cards, "I'll make you explain to the fire department and the landlord just how the whole thing started."  
  
Duo glared, but had nothing further to add on that score.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Heero looked up from the sidewalk to glance at Duo, who was plodding along beside him on their way back to the dorms. "For what?"  
  
"That whole mess with Hilde. I know we both kind of went a little overboard. You don't need that; between Dorothy and Wufei, you've got enough insanity to deal with already."  
  
Heero shrugged. "That's okay. I'm starting to get used to it. And it least you and Hilde aren't swearing to extract revenge on each other and start a war that will last all of eternity."  
  
Duo smiled. "That would be very bad, seeing as how we have to live together at least until our lease runs out. It's generally not a good idea to declare war on someone you live with."  
  
"That doesn't seem to have stopped Wufei or Dorothy," Heero snorted.  
  
"True."  
  
They walked along in companionable silence until the dorm buildings came into view. Then Heero turned to Duo. "Stay for dinner?"  
  
"Sorry. Can't," Duo said apologetically. "It's my night to cook; Quatre and Hilde will never forgive me if I ditch my duty for dorm food."  
  
"Maybe tomorrow night," Heero said hopefully.  
  
"Maybe." Duo smiled as he leaned in for a goodbye kiss. Then, with a wave and his usual call of, "See you tomorrow!" he was off.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero entered the dorm and moved down the hall, surveying the area around his room carefully. Dorothy had been suspiciously quiet lately, and Heero was ever on the lookout for evidence that she had been in or around his room. Finding nothing, he proceeded carefully into his room.  
  
Wufei was waiting for him.  
  
"Out with Duo again?" Wufei said, his voice sounding unnaturally hard. "Funny how you seem to be spending so much time with him."  
  
Heero blinked, surprised. Wufei had never before bothered to make an issue of where he spent his days. "We're friends; of course we spend a lot of time together."  
  
"Friends, huh?" Wufei sounded scornful, as though Heero was insulting his intelligence by expecting him to believe that.  
  
Heero swallowed nervously. "Wufei, what's the matter with you?"  
  
"I was looking for a magazine in the library today," Wufei said. "I wanted to prove to you that your accusation was unjust; I couldn't have been the one to get you sick since you came down with it at almost the same time as I did. I went to that place on the third floor where the scientific magazines are kept."  
  
Heero's mouth went dry. That had been where he and Duo had spent most of their afternoon, sometimes stacking magazines, sometimes doing... other things.  
  
"Funny," Wufei said. "I didn't know that friendship extended to sticking your tongue down someone else's throat."  
  
Lifting his chin in the air defiantly, Heero looked Wufei straight in the eye and asked, "So? What's it to you?"  
  
"If that's your definition of friendship," Wufei said rather coldly, "I would just as soon not be friends with you."  
  
Heero opened and shut his mouth a few times, but he couldn't think of a thing to say to that. Reaching down, he snagged the book bag he had dropped, and fled the room.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Someone was banging on the door.  
  
"Geez," Hilde muttered irritably, "Right in the middle of dinner too."  
  
"I wonder who it is," Quatre said, rising from his place at the table.  
  
"Don't worry, Quat, I'll get it," Duo said, jumping up and heading for the door. As the pounding continued, he muttered, "All right, all right, have a little patience, will you? I'm coming as fast as I can." Throwing open the door, he paused in surprise at the sight that awaited him.  
  
Heero stood outside his door, book bag in hand, face pale, and eyes slightly wild.  
  
"Heero!" Duo exclaimed. "Back already?"  
  
"I need to spend the night here," Heero said without preamble.  
  
"Sure," Duo said, stepping aside automatically to admit him. "What's up? Has Dorothy decided to do something terrible?"  
  
"No, Wufei has." Heero didn't have the note of half amused, half resigned suffering that was usually present in his voice when he spoke of the antics of his roommate and his rival.  
  
"To Dorothy?" Duo asked.  
  
"No. To me."  
  
Duo's face hardened. "What's he done?" he demanded.  
  
Pacing angrily around the room, Heero repeated the conversation he had had with Wufei. Duo's face grew progressively darker and darker, but he didn't speak until Heero was finished.  
  
When Heero was done with his account, Duo took him by the arm and led him over to the table where Quatre and Hilde sat, watching the two with interest. They had been able to see but not hear the conversation, and were anxious to find out what was going on.  
  
"Heero's sleeping here tonight," Duo said firmly. "We have an extra set of clean sheets for the couch, don't we?"  
  
"What do you need the couch for?" Hilde asked. "Just let him share your bed."  
  
The glare Duo gave her told her in no uncertain terms where she could shove that suggestion.  
  
"I think we have an extra set of sheets in the hall closet," Quatre said. "I can check if you like."  
  
He started to rise, but Duo waved him back down. "It can wait until after dinner," he said.  
  
The rest of dinner passed in a rather sullen manner. Duo went and got an extra place setting and a chair for Heero and gave him some of the casserole he had made, but Heero seemed more inclined to glare at the table than actually eat. Nor did his mood improve once the meal was finished. He sat on the couch, brooding quietly.  
  
"Don't look so down, Heero," Hilde said. "Whatever happened, it can't be that bad. Anyway, sitting and glaring at the carpet is not going to help. Why don't you do something to take your mind off things?"  
  
"Like what?" Heero asked rather scathingly.  
  
"Well, if you're not doing anything else, you could help me do dishes," she said.  
  
"He's a guest, Hilde!" Duo said. "You don't make guests do dishes."  
  
"You could help me with my Valentine's Day poem to Trowa," Quatre suggested.  
  
"That's right," Duo said. "Valentine's Day isn't very far away. Maybe we should plan something to do then. What do you say, Heero?"  
  
Heero shrugged.  
  
Seeing that no answer was forth coming, Duo turned to Quatre. "I can't believe you're still working on that poem. How many weeks ago did you start it?"  
  
"I can't seem to get it right. I need something to compare his eyes to."  
  
"Dichlorobis(ethylenediamine)cobalt chloride," Hilde suggested.  
  
"What the hell is that?" Duo asked.  
  
Hilde shrugged. "Some compound we had to synthesize in lab. The point is, it's green."  
  
"How would I spell it?" Quatre asked.  
  
Duo shook his head. "You'd never find anything to rhyme with it. Plus, it would totally throw your meter out of whack."  
  
"What do you think, Heero?" Quatre asked, trying once more to draw the sulking young man into the conversation. "What should I use instead?"  
  
Heero shrugged. Despite his best efforts, it seemed that he was not to be allowed to wallow in misery. "I don't know. I've never met Trowa."  
  
"Yes you have," Hilde said. "You were probably too drunk to remember it though."  
  
Heero thought back to the night of that rather unfortunate incident. It was hazy, but he thought he could vaguely remember a green eyed young man kneeling next to him and telling him to go sleep it off. "That was Trowa?"  
  
"Yup," Duo said. "Ask Quatre to introduce you two properly some time."  
  
"Hn," Heero said, returning his gaze to the carpet.  
  
However, it seemed that the three occupants of the apartment were still determined not to let him sulk in peace. "I know what we should do," Quatre said. "Let's play a game."  
  
"Don't you have homework you need to be doing?" Hilde asked.  
  
"It can wait," Quatre said dismissively.  
  
Duo clutched his chest in shock. "This coming from the workaholic himself!"  
  
"I'm not that bad," Quatre protested. "Anyway, homework can always take a backseat to a good game of Risk!"  
  
"No!" Hilde wailed. "Not Risk!"  
  
"What's wrong with Risk?" Heero asked.  
  
"Nothing, unless you play with him," Duo said, gesturing at Quatre. "He's mercenary."  
  
"I say that the guest should decide," Quatre said. Turning to Heero, he added, "What about it, Heero? Do you feel like conquering the world?"  
  
"Sure," Heero said, thinking that it couldn't possibly be any worse than the rounds of Scrabble. "Why not?"  
  
"I'll go get the box!" Quatre cried, jumping up from the couch.  
  
Hilde and Duo shared a despairing, "Why us?" look. "Heero," Duo began, "have you ever actually played Risk before?"  
  
"No," Heero said. "But I've heard about it."  
  
Duo shook his head. "I hate to say it, buddy, but you're doomed."  
  
Duo dire predictions about Heero's fate in the game did not, as it turned out, come true. After the first few turns, Heero could see why the others were reluctant to play with Quatre. He set his sites small at first, concentrating on one continent at a time, but when he wanted a country, he could be ruthless.  
  
Hilde was the first to drop out of the game. After her cards and countries had been submitted to Quatre, she got up from the table. "Have fun, suckers," she said.  
  
Heero was the next to go down. He struggled valiantly, forming several alliances with Duo, but in the end, Quatre surrounded his troops and wiped them out. After admitting defeat, he sat at the table to watch the rest of the game. He could tell it wouldn't last much longer. Duo held only the southeast corner of Asia, and Quatre was already redistributing his troops along the border.  
  
"You won't take me down without a fight!" Duo cried. "I'll retreat into Australia and hold out against you! I'll take you down with me! I won't be defeated so easily!"  
  
"Defend yourself, Duo," Quatre said, smiling sweetly as he handed his roommate the dice. "I'm attacking with thirteen."  
  
"I'm screwed," Duo muttered.  
  
"Yes, you are," Quatre agreed amiably.  
  
Cupping his hands, Duo brought the dice up close to his face. "Come on, babies, I need a bunch of really good rolls. Preferably sixes, but fives will do too. C'mon, don't let me down!"  
  
"You do realize that talking to the dice won't save you," Quatre said.  
  
Duo glared at him. "It's all I have left. Let me talk to the dice if I damn well want to!"  
  
"All right," Quatre said, still smirking slightly as he watched Duo trying to talk the dice into doing the improbable.  
  
When Duo finally rolled, the dice both came up as ones.  
  
"That's what you get for trying to sweet talk the dice," Hilde said, as Duo wailed and Quatre gleefully removed two of Duo's troops from the board.  
  
Almost in spite of himself, Heero found himself smiling at their antics.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Heero? You still awake?"  
  
Heero grunted.  
  
Apparently, that was answer enough for Duo, who moved over to the couch where Heero was laying. Heero sat up to make room for him, and Duo seated himself next to his boyfriend. Reaching out, Duo slid an arm around Heero's shoulders and pulled the other to rest lightly against him.  
  
"Look," he said. "I know you're still upset about Wufei, but try not to let him get to you. The world is full of jerks. Anyone who has lived in it for any great length of time will tell you that. But you can't let them get you down. There are lots of likable people in the world too, and if you stick with them, you can ignore the jerks."  
  
"Hilde's straight, isn't she?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo nodded. "Yeah, she is."  
  
"But she doesn't mind. Why does Wufei have to make such a big deal about it?"  
  
Duo sighed. "Sometimes men are funny about that kind of thing, especially if it's another guy who's gay. I guess it threatens their manhood or something."  
  
"But I would never hit on Wufei. I don't even find him attractive."  
  
"Glad to hear it," Duo said dryly.  
  
Heero ignored that. "I'll have to go back," he said. "I can't stay here indefinitely. But I really don't want to live with someone who hates me."  
  
Duo sighed and tightened his hold. "It'll work out somehow, Heero."  
  
"I hope so," Heero said.  
  
tbc  
  
Okay, I know I made Wufei look like a total jerk in this chapter. But don't worry. He will be made to see the error of his ways... ::smiles evilly::  
  
Wufei: Why do I think this cannot bode well for me? 


	14. Reluctant Agreements

Disclaimers: Don't own them, yada, yada Warnings: shounen ai, AU, OOC, slight Wufei torture in this chapter (but I think we've established that he deserves it...)  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 14: Reluctant Agreements  
  
Heero spent almost the entire next day berating himself for being a coward. He knew that he would have to face Wufei eventually; after all, he still lived with him. At the same time, he was extremely reluctant to meet his estranged roommate. He ducked into his room only when he knew Wufei was out and avoided the dorms altogether whenever he could. He spent a few nights at Duo's apartment until his dorm mates began teasing him about renting out his half of the room. Only then did he return to the dorms.  
  
He began to wish that he could have stayed at Duo's apartment forever. While Wufei didn't go out of his way to make Heero's life miserable, his utter coldness began to wear Heero down. They never spoke, and if they were in the room together, Wufei pretended that his roommate didn't exist. Occasionally, the snubs became more blatant. Once, when Heero sat down at the same table in the dinning commons, Wufei deliberately got up and moved elsewhere.  
  
Not for the first time, the library became a refuge for Heero. Though he and Duo were now much more careful about where they kissed, they still spent a lot of time in each other's company. Heero didn't know why Duo put up with all of his complaints and tales of tribulation, but he did.  
  
On Friday, Heero was particularly gloomy. "I can't believe I have to spend all weekend cooped up with him," Heero said as he sat with Duo at a quiet table on the second floor. "I don't know how I'm going to survive."  
  
"Simple," Duo said. "You don't stay there. You come over and spend the weekend with me."  
  
"But I've already been imposing on you enough. What will your roommates say?"  
  
"Well," Duo answered, "you can find out if you wait a little longer. We were all planning to walk home together late this afternoon, so you can ask them yourself."  
  
Hilde and Quatre, as it turned out, said that they would be delighted to have Heero stay over for the weekend.  
  
"You might even be able to use my bed," Quatre said. "Let me talk to Trowa." And he darted off, returning a moment later with the tall, green- eyed young man Heero vaguely remembered from the night of the fraternity party.  
  
"Heero, this is Trowa. Trowa, Heero." Duo made the necessary introductions.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Trowa and Heero both intoned, shaking hands. Heero was immensely grateful that Trowa didn't bring up their previous meeting; he would just as soon not remember his idiotic behavior on that night.  
  
"Heero's going to spend the weekend with us," Quatre was saying. "We should do something special while he's over."  
  
"Nothing too special," Trowa said. "Valentine's Day is only a week away, and I thought we were saving our special outings for then."  
  
"Well, we should at least let Heero go get his things, and we can decide who's doing what later," Hilde interrupted.  
  
Everyone agreed that this was a sensible course of action, and so they all headed off to the dorms. Upon arriving, Heero hung back, letting the others wander ahead of him as they talked about how nostalgic it was to be back in these buildings once again. He knew he was being stupid, but he also knew that Wufei was likely to be back from class, and he didn't want to see what the other's reaction to Duo would be. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep his temper if Wufei did start, and if he hauled off and hit his roommate, that would pretty much put an end to any possibility that they would ever be friends again.  
  
"Hey, Heero!" Duo's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "I think you'd better come here." Duo's voice held a note that spoke of both urgency and amusement.  
  
Heero trailed down the hall towards where the rest of them were standing in front of his room, staring at something with astonishment and, in Hilde and Duo's cases at least, amusement. Trowa had his eyebrows raised, Quatre had averted his eyes, and his cheeks were rather pink, Hilde was gazing avidly, and Duo just looked amused. What he saw when he reached them made his jaw drop.  
  
Wufei was standing in front of their room. He looked like he was in the middle of doing a jumping jack, his arms held open above his head, and legs spread slightly apart. Holding him in place, strapped down to the door, was more duct tape than Heero had ever seen in his life. That in and of itself was enough to cause astonishment, but it was not all. Wufei had no clothes on, and the only thing protecting his modesty was a bunch of strategically placed whipped cream. Another strip of duct tape ran across his mouth, preventing him from calling for help.  
  
"Oh my..." Heero was at a loss for words. Hilde on the other hand, was not.  
  
"HAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh, this is priceless!"  
  
Wufei sent a glare in her direction, but was unable to comment due to the duct tape.  
  
"Would you like us to get rid of the tape?" Duo asked sweetly.  
  
Wufei nodded as emphatically as he could.  
  
Duo reached out and took hold of the piece of tape covering Wufei's mouth. With a swift tug, he pulled it free.  
  
"OW!" Wufei yelled as his mouth was abruptly uncovered.  
  
Duo smirked. "Sorry," he said, not sounding very sorry at all.  
  
"What happened to you?" Heero asked.  
  
"What do you think happened?!" Wufei spat. "Dorothy happened to me, that's what! I knew she was being too quiet; she was just waiting for the RA on our floor to leave town this weekend!"  
  
"I could go get the other RA if you want to make a complaint," Trowa offered calmly. "There are always at least two per building."  
  
"NO!" Wufei looked horrified at the very idea. "The RA on the third floor is female!"  
  
"All the better," Hilde muttered. "I think she would appreciate this."  
  
"What are you doing just standing there?!" Wufei demanded. "Help me down!"  
  
Heero sighed in resignation and reached for the tape, but Duo caught his hand, arresting the movement.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Wufei snapped. "Hurry up; the whipped cream is starting to go runny!"  
  
Duo's smirk only grew. "Oh, I don't know," he said. "I think I like having you right there."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Well," Duo said, shrugging, "you seem so determined to make all homosexuals out to be perverts, so I might as well try to live up to your expectations."  
  
"I never...!"  
  
"Oh no?" Duo sounded disbelieving. " 'I didn't know that friendship extended to sticking your tongue down someone else's throat. If that's your definition of friendship, I would just as soon not be friends with you,' " he quoted mercilessly.  
  
"I didn't mean it like that!" Wufei cried.  
  
"Really. Then why have you been being so nasty to Heero lately?"  
  
Wufei shut his mouth and looked slightly guilty.  
  
"You know," Duo continued, "someone once told me that one definition for a homophobe was someone who was insecure about their own sexuality."  
  
Wufei's face went crimson. "I am not!" he snapped.  
  
"Then why do you feel threatened?" Duo asked.  
  
Wufei didn't answer.  
  
"Good God!" Duo exploded. "Heero is not interested in you that way! For goodness sakes, you're standing there, more than half naked, surrounded by four homosexual men, and the only one who's drooling at you happens to be female!"  
  
"Hey!" Hilde cried. "I am not drooling! I'm just being appreciative!"  
  
"Well, that's one way of putting it," Trowa muttered.  
  
"Are you going to let me down yet?" Wufei asked, shooting a nervous glance at Hilde.  
  
Duo crossed his arms over his chest. "Not until you agree to be civil to Heero," he said.  
  
Wufei scowled.  
  
"I didn't say that you two had to become bosom pals or anything," Duo snapped, sounding irritated, "but he is your roommate, and you should at least be polite to each other. You're going to have to live together for several more months yet."  
  
Wufei met Heero's eyes rather grudgingly. "Civil," he said. "Fine. I can manage that."  
  
"Heero?" Duo turned to him. "Does that sound good to you?"  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
"All right, then," Duo said, and he set about trying to detach the tape from the door. After a moment, Heero moved to join him. Wufei closed his eyes and didn't look entirely happy to have them so close, but he said nothing.  
  
Hilde, on the other hand, had plenty to say. "Just one Polaroid. Please? Just one. Or a digital camera would work."  
  
"Woman!" Wufei cried, looking horrified. "Don't even think about it!"  
  
The whipped cream was showing definite signs of running by the time they managed to get Wufei loose. After hastily muttering his thanks, he vanished inside his room and slammed the door.  
  
Once the door was safely closed, Duo burst out laughing. "Oh, man, that was classic! You know, if this Dorothy chick could pull that off, I don't think he's ever going to beat her."  
  
"That won't stop him from dying in the attempt," Heero muttered darkly.  
  
"True," Duo conceded. "But if it ever gets too bad, you can still stay over at our place. Speaking of which, do you still want to stay this weekend?"  
  
Heero considered for a moment, then shook his head. "I think I'll stay here and see if your little talk had any effect on him."  
  
"Fair enough," Duo said.  
  
Just then, there was the sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs, and two girls came running from the landing down the hall. "Is it over? Did we miss it?" one asked rather breathlessly.  
  
Heero eyed them cautiously. "You're from the second floor, aren't you? What are you doing down here?"  
  
"Well," the other girl began, "Dorothy told us that if we came down here, we would get to see a hot guy shirtless. She took pictures, you see, but they haven't been developed yet."  
  
"She took pictures?" Hilde perked up. "Oh good. At least someone did."  
  
"Women!" Wufei shouted through the door. "I can hear you!"  
  
"We're too late, aren't we?" the first girl said gloomily.  
  
"'Fraid so, ladies," Duo said. "Better luck next time."  
  
"Oh well," the other said, as they turned around and began to walk back towards the stairs. "I guess we'll just have to wait for the pictures to be developed."  
  
"You'll do no such thing!" Wufei howled from inside his room.  
  
Duo laughed. "What do you guys want to bet he'll try to find that film and destroy it?"  
  
Trowa shook his head. "I never bet against certainties. Now, if you'd asked me to bet on whether or not he'll succeed, then you might have something."  
  
Laughing, they all headed down the hall, leaving Heero to deal with his slightly repentant but still irate roommate.  
  
tbc  
  
AN: Thank you to PlaidDragon for giving me the idea of how to punish Wufei adequately, and to M.E. for suggesting the whipped cream. 


	15. Technical Difficulties

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 15: Technical Difficulties  
  
The talking to Duo had given Wufei had apparently had an effect after all. Granted, Wufei didn't change overnight; for the rest of the evening, he didn't speak to Heero, although he would shoot cautious glances at him every now and again. Heero wondered if the two of them would ever be at ease with each other again. He was just beginning to fear that they never would when Wufei stood up.  
  
"I'm hungry," he announced, "and the dinning halls close early tonight. Do you want to go to dinner?"  
  
Heero blinked in surprise, but showed no other loss of composure. "Sure," he said.  
  
Dinner was a rather subdued affair, but neither one of them said anything nasty to the other. They even attempted a small conversation. It was an improvement, and over the next few days, things continued to improve between them. Heero noticed that Wufei was still distinctly uncomfortable having him in the room if he was changing, but other than that, things were almost back to normal.  
  
Of course, Heero had almost forgotten what normality for them included.  
  
It was the outraged shriek that brought him running down the halls Monday evening. Throwing open the door to their room, he expected to find the place converted by some Dorothy-induced disaster. What he found instead was Wufei, sitting at his desk, literally shaking with rage. For a moment, Heero seriously considered calling an ambulance, since it looked as though Wufei was about to have an aneurysm.  
  
"What's wrong?" he demanded.  
  
Wufei pointed an unsteady finger at the computer screen. "That... That... That..." He was so angry, he couldn't even think of appropriate wording.  
  
"What?" Heero asked, although he had a feeling he didn't want to know.  
  
"DOROTHY!!!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, on the second floor, two girls sat together in their room, one humming happily as her printer whirred.  
  
"What are you so cheerful about?" her roommate asked.  
  
The humming girl smirked. "You can gloat no more, for though you may have your Legolas poster, I have... THIS!!"  
  
With a triumphant gesture, she snatched a piece of paper from the printer tray, holding it up to show her roommate. From the page, Wufei, in all his shirtless glory, glared out at them. The picture was centered on his torso, and barely showed the duct tape holding him in place.  
  
"Wow," the roommate said. "Where did you get that?"  
  
"Dorothy scanned her pictures and posted them online. She's sent an email around the dorm with a link to them."  
  
Her roommate's eyes lit up. "Hey, that means I can access them too!"  
  
"You can," the first girl agreed. "But _I_ have a color printer. I don't even have to go online anymore."  
  
"I have to admit," the other said, "that's the best use for a color cartridge that I can think of."  
  
The first girl eyed the printout with an air of satisfaction. "I think I'll put this on the ceiling, right above my bed. That way, he can glare down at me as I sleep."  
  
Her roommate just shook her head. "Have I ever told you that you're seriously disturbed?"  
  
"Many times. Many, many times..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
The first thing Duo said when Heero told him about the email with the link to the pictures was, "Send a forward to Hilde."  
  
"Wufei won't appreciate that," Heero pointed out.  
  
"Wufei doesn't have to live with the woman; I do. She's been whining for the past three days about not getting any pictures. Hopefully, this will shut her up. I swear to God, I've got to find her a boyfriend. The only question is where I'm going to find a guy who's nuts enough to date her."  
  
"That's not a very nice thing to say about your roommate."  
  
"Maybe not, but there's a ring of truth in it. Hilde is very intense and energetic. She's also very independent. She has a tendency to scare guys off before they ever get around to really dating. Makes my job harder."  
  
"I'm sure she'll find someone," Heero said. "After all, Valentine's day is this Friday, so romance is kind of on people's minds right now."  
  
"That's true enough," Duo replied. "It's only a few days off now."  
  
"What should we do for it?" Heero asked.  
  
"I'm taking you out to dinner," Duo said.  
  
Heero smirked. "What, is this supposed to imply that you're the 'man' in this relationship, if you're the one taking me out?"  
  
Duo returned the smile. "Not at all. But since I've been here a year longer than you have, I know where the good restaurants are."  
  
"The traditional dinner and a movie?" Heero asked.  
  
"Seems like as good a start as any. I mean, if you think about it, we haven't actually been on an official date yet, unless you count all that time you spend at my apartment. And there was talk about showing a special Valentine's Day movie in the biggest lecture hall on campus."  
  
Heero rolled his eyes. "It'll probably be a chick flick."  
  
"But," Duo said, "admission is cheap for students. Anyway, if it a chick flick, we can just make fun of it. That's entertainment in and of itself. What do you say?"  
  
"Fine," Heero said.  
  
"Great!" Duo grinned. "I'll meet you here on Friday as usual and we'll go on from there."  
  
~*~*~  
  
At two thirty on Friday afternoon, Duo sat fidgeting nervously. Heero was late, and Duo was sensitive to delay ever since the time he had waited for Heero in vain.  
  
/Even Heero wouldn't be dense enough to leave me waiting on Valentine's Day without an explanation,/ Duo thought. /He'll come, even if it is just to tell me he has to cancel./  
  
Just as he was starting to get truly worried, he caught sight of Heero. His hands were behind his back, and he didn't bring them into sight until he reached the table and sat down. When he did, he held out a book and a small, napkin wrapped package.  
  
"Been raiding the shelves again, Heero?" Duo asked teasingly.  
  
"It's for you," Heero replied.  
  
Curious as to what Heero had got for him, Duo reached out and took the book from Heero. It was heavy, and its spine was extremely thick. Once he looked at the title, he understood why.  
  
"A dictionary?"  
  
Heero shrugged sheepishly. "I remember you always complained last quarter because you didn't have one, and I didn't know what else to get you. Somehow, I don't think flowers are your thing."  
  
Duo laughed. "They're not really. And if you'd given me chocolate, Hilde would have swiped it all. Thanks, Heero, this'll be really useful. But what's with the napkin?"  
  
Heero looked at the ground, shuffling his feet slightly. "Well, a dictionary didn't really seem like an appropriate gift by itself, so I thought you should have something to go along with it."  
  
"And chocolate chip cookies are more appropriate?" Duo asked, having opened the napkin to disclose its contents.  
  
"Sugar is a traditional part of Valentine's Day," Heero responded seriously.  
  
"They look like dinning hall cookies," Duo said. Since he was studying the cookies, he almost missed the way Heero's face suddenly went red.  
  
"That's because I stole them from the dinning hall at lunch," Heero mumbled.  
  
Duo couldn't help himself, he threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, Heero, you're too much!"  
  
"Hn," Heero snorted, face still red. "I was working with limited resources."  
  
"I understand that," Duo said, still grinning broadly. "And I didn't say I didn't appreciate the gift either." So saying, he stood up, moved over to Heero's chair, and sat down, ignoring the fact that the chair was already occupied. "I appreciate it a lot," he purred next to Heero's ear, ignoring how Heero gulped quietly in surprise. Then he kissed him.  
  
Heero, who had been hoping that something of the sort would happen, accepted the kiss easily. Sliding his arms up, he put them around Duo's waist, drawing his boyfriend in closer to him. Duo responded readily, leaning into Heero and deepening the kiss.  
  
The chair tipped ominously. Neither young man paid any attention.  
  
With a crash, the chair went over backwards, spilling both its occupants onto the floor. Heero, being on the bottom of the heap, got by far the worst of it. His head struck the tile floor with a *crack*! Duo went sprawling and rolled a few feet before coming to rest in a heap. He immediately scrambled to his feet and hurried back over to Heero, who was still in the fallen chair, feet in the air, head against the floor. He wasn't moving.  
  
"Heero?" Duo called in concern as he knelt on the floor beside the motionless young man. "Heero, are you okay?" He reached out and shook Heero gently by the shoulder.  
  
Heero's eyes blinked open, and looked at Duo. He seemed to be trying to focus, and he shook his head once, but stopped, wincing. "Duo," he said, "why are there two of you? It's a duo of Duos."  
  
"Uh oh..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Other people go to movies or restaurants or clubs or what-have-you for Valentine's Day. Where do I get to go? The Student Health Center. How utterly unromantic."  
  
Duo sighed heavily and shifted in his seat, still griping under his breath. Sitting in the waiting room of the campus health center, waiting for Heero to finish being checked over by the doctor, was not how he had envisioned spending his Valentine's Day.  
  
"Of all the stupid things to happen! I've never seen one of those chairs go over like that before. Why did it have to do it now?" If he had been very religious, he would have sworn that some higher power was playing with him.  
  
Just then , Heero stalked back in with a middle aged woman in tow. Duo leapt to his feet to greet them. "Heero, how are you?"  
  
"He has a mild concussion," the woman said. Duo identified her as either a doctor or a nurse of the health center. "However," she sent an irritated glance at Heero, "he refuses to be taken to a hospital."  
  
"I'm fine," Heero growled. "I don't need to go to a hospital."  
  
"Heero," Duo began, but he was not allowed to finish.  
  
"No!" Heero snapped. "I had plans, and I'm not going to change them!"  
  
Duo sent a helpless look at the woman and shrugged in defeat.  
  
The woman heaved a resigned sigh. "Very well," she said, lips pressed together tightly in irritation. "I can't make you if you're determined not to. But you still have to be cautious." And she proceeded to give Duo a list of instructions on how to care for Heero, including a little lecture on pain killers, and how often to wake him up when he went to sleep. Then she made Heero sign a form saying that he had been advised to seek further medical attention and had refused. When she was done, Duo thanked her profusely and left with Heero.  
  
"You should have gone to the hospital," Duo needled after they were out of the building.  
  
"I don't need to," Heero said stubbornly. "Besides, it would ruin our plans."  
  
"I think we should revise our plans anyway," Duo said. "After all, I'm sure that you should be resting instead of wandering around."  
  
Heero sent him a look. "I hardly think that what we had planned would be too stressful for me."  
  
"Fine, fine, I give in," Duo said. "Have it your way. But if you start to feel dizzy or tired or anything like that, you have to tell me, okay?"  
  
Heero nodded absently.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You still sure you're up to this?"  
  
"I'm sure," Heero insisted tiredly. His words might have had a little more conviction if it had not been the third time in the past half an hour that he had repeated them.  
  
He and Duo were standing in a long line of people waiting to be let into the lecture hall to see the movie. They had been standing there for forty minutes, and it didn't seem like they would be moving any time soon. The students running the showing were apparently having "technical difficulties." "Meaning," Duo had said, "that they can't find pieces of the film." Apparently, such occurrences were common for campus movies.  
  
"You know what they say; you get what you pay for." was Duo's take on it. "On-campus movies are cheap, but you have to put up with little delays like this in return."  
  
The little delay was turning into a long one. Heero was beginning to wish that he'd brought a book, although when he'd mentioned this to Duo, Duo had told him that he'd wreck his eyes trying to read in the dark. Since the line consisted mainly of couples, quite a few people had turned to necking as a way to pass the time. The couple in line right in front of them began a little make out session of their own, and Heero wondered what the consequences of splashing them with cold water would be.  
  
"You know," Duo purred next to his ear. "We could try that too, if you want."  
  
Face turning crimson, Heero shook his head.  
  
Duo chuckled. "I thought not," he said, "but I figured I might as well ask, seeing how fascinated you are with them." He jerked his head towards the pair in front of them.  
  
"I was wondering how they'd react if I told them to break it up because they're in public."  
  
"Aw, leave them be," Duo said. "They're adults, in the eyes of the law if not in their own minds. Besides," he added, lowering his voice, "we've kissed in fairly public places."  
  
"And look what came of it," Heero grumbled.  
  
"True," Duo said, but he was not given a chance to elaborate further, since the line began to actually move.  
  
"The line! It moves! It must be magic!" Duo cried, drawing strange looks and a few giggles from some of their neighbors.  
  
As they finally walked into the darkened lecture hall, Heero leaned over and whispered, "What are we seeing again?"  
  
"Moulin Rouge," Duo whispered back. "It's supposed to be romantic."  
  
Heero, who didn't watch movies very often, had never heard of this one, but he nodded anyway.  
  
As it turned out, they did not watch Moulin Rouge, or at least not all of it. The "technical difficulties" spilled over into the actual showing, and the visuals were liable to cut out without a moments notice, so that they ended up hearing but not seeing large chunks of the movie. Still what he could see of the movie wasn't too bad, although he could have sworn he'd heard most of the songs in it somewhere before.  
  
"That's because they ripped them off from a lot of other things," Duo whispered when he voiced his opinion.  
  
Finally, the technical staff outdid themselves by losing one of the movie reels, causing the plot to suddenly jump from point A to point G with no bridge in between. After apologizing profusely for the problems, the audience was sent away with a refund.  
  
"Well," Duo said brightly as they left, "that wasn't so bad. We got to see most of Moulin Rouge for free."  
  
"We didn't get to see the end," Heero pointed out.  
  
"We can rent it sometime," Duo answered breezily. "Besides, we know the ending. She dies, they tell you that in the beginning."  
  
Heero sent him a look, but made no comment.  
  
"So," Duo asked, "my place or yours?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
"You two are so sickeningly sweet that it makes me want to hurl," Hilde said.  
  
The pair on the couch ignored her. Duo sat relaxing, one arm over the back of the couch, and the other resting across Heero's back. Heero was not sitting, but was curled up on the couch, his head in his boyfriend's lap, close to sleep.  
  
Duo's apartment had been the obvious place for them to end up; Heero preferred braving Hilde to spending the night with Wufei, and Duo had promised him Quatre's bed, since its regular occupant was spending the night with Trowa and would not return before morning at the earliest.  
  
At that moment, Heero could have cared less about the bed. He was quite content to drift off where he was, with his warm, living pillow and Duo's hand occasionally trailing through his hair.  
  
"So," Duo asked him quietly. "What did you think?"  
  
"Nice," Heero murmured sleepily.  
  
"I agree," Duo said, smiling. "We had some difficulties, but all in all, it was a good Valentine's Day."  
  
Tbc  
  
Author's Note: I'm afraid that this is going to have to get put on hold for about the next month or so. Unfortunately, since I left college and came home for the summer, inspiration has dried up, which is why this chapter was so long in coming. Hopefully, once I get back to my college campus and my own computer, the muse will return and inspire me to write more. Until then, you won't see anymore chapters of this. 


	16. Impromptu Vacations

Rapunzel: Ah, life is good. My paper is turned in, my hideous o-chem midterm is over, my car will be fixed soon, and I feel good.  
  
Muse: And don't forget you've got that biology midterm tomorrow...  
  
Rapunzel: Shimatta!!  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 16: Impromptu Vacations  
  
After Valentine's Day, the winter quarter seemed to go by unreasonably fast. Or at least it seemed that way to Heero, despite the fact that nothing particularly important happened. He and Duo continued to meet every week day in the library for studying, book stacking, or just chatting. All was quiet on the dorm front; Dorothy seemed to feel that her revenge was complete, and Wufei, for reasons best known to himself, didn't retaliate against her for what had become known around the dorm as "The Whipped Cream Incident."  
  
Life seemed to run purely on routine for a few weeks, with very little deviation from what Heero had come to consider "normal." That was why he was so surprised, on the first day of finals, to see Wufei packing his suitcase instead of studying.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked.  
  
"Home, of course," Wufei answered. "For spring break."  
  
"But spring break is only a week long," Heero pointed out. "It hardly seems worth it to go home."  
  
"Well, we can't stay here."  
  
That surprised him. "We can't? Why not?"  
  
"Because they lock the halls over the holidays," Wufei answered. "They locked them over Christmas too."  
  
Heero didn't quite know what to make of that. He had no burning desire to go home to his family, and had no means of getting there anyway, as he hadn't bothered to arrange to take a plane. Still, he hadn't considered the possibility that he wouldn't be allowed to stay in the dorms. With the break less than a week away and no means of getting anywhere, he was stuck with nowhere to stay. Action was required to fix this dilemma.  
  
So, the next day, he put his problem before Duo. "Would it be possible for me to stay with you during the week?" he asked hopefully. He knew it was rather sudden, but he couldn't think of anything else to do, short of trying to get plane tickets to go back home, which he didn't particularly want to do.  
  
Duo frown. "Well, normally it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm not going to be there."  
  
Heero's spirits plummeted. Now he was truly stuck. "Where are you going?" he asked dully.  
  
"Home," Duo answered. "I know it's only for a week, but I like going home." Seeing the despairing look on Heero's face, he added, "Now don't panic; if worst comes to worst, you can still stay in the dorms."  
  
Heero looked confused. "I can? How?"  
  
"Well, technically, they don't close the halls for the entire break, just for a few days. If you just stay in your room and leave the lights off and the door locked while the inspectors come through, they'll think there's no one there. Then, when they leave, you'll have the building to yourself. The only problem is that you have to stay inside for two days, because if you go outside, you can't get back in."  
  
"And this works?" Heero asked dubiously.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Apparently. I've never tried it myself, but some of my fellow freshmen last year did."  
  
The thought of spending two days stuck inside was not an appealing one. "I suppose I could still try to get plane tickets..." Heero muttered.  
  
"It'd be difficult," Duo said. "Remember, everyone wants to leave about the same time, and even if you could get some, they'd be expensive because you didn't get them in advance. Come to think of it, I really should get my train tickets soon. Trains aren't as popular, so it's not as bad, but still..." He trailed off, and a strange, thoughtful expression came over his face.  
  
"What?" Heero asked.  
  
"Hey, Heero, can you drive?"  
  
Heero was surprised by the question, but answered, "Yes, I can drive. But I don't have a car. And anyway, my home is too far away to drive to."  
  
"But mine's not," Duo said. "It would be even easier if I had another driver, and someone to split the gas cost with. Hey, Heero, how would you like to come home with me over spring break?"  
  
Heero considered it. "Would I have to meet your parents?"  
  
"Oh no," Duo said. "My parents are dead. I live with my crazy old Uncle Howard."  
  
Heero opened his mouth, about to voice his surprise and condolences about Duo's parents, but shut it again. Something about the casual way Duo had told him made him think that Duo didn't want anyone making a big deal about it, probably because he didn't want to talk about it himself.  
  
"Okay," Heero said.  
  
"Okay as in, you'll come?" Duo asked hopefully.  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
A grin covered Duo's face. "Great! What day is your last final?"  
  
"Thursday," Heero told him.  
  
"My last one's on Friday morning. Tell you what, how about you get your stuff together and meet me at my place at about noon on Friday, and we'll take off from there. Does that sound okay?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
~*~*~  
  
However, at noon on Friday, Duo was not at his apartment.  
  
"He still hasn't gotten back from his final," Quatre told Heero as he admitted him.  
  
"Is it usual for him to take this long?" Heero asked.  
  
"It depends," Quatre answered. "If he has a multiple choice final, he can zip right through it. If it's an essay final, though, it might be a while. Please, sit down," he added politely, gesturing at the couch.  
  
Heero sat down obediently. He wasn't quite sure what he should do while he waited.  
  
Hilde came wandering into the living room. "Hey, Quatre, is Duo back yet?" she asked.  
  
"Not yet," he replied.  
  
Hilde swore. "That little twit swiped my biology book, and he hasn't returned it yet."  
  
"What would Duo want with your biology book?" Quatre wondered.  
  
"He said something about doing a paper on the convoluted writing style employed by scientists. I thought he was just joking, but he borrowed my book, and I haven't seen it since. Dammit, I need it back! My bio final is tomorrow!"  
  
"You have a final on Saturday?" Heero asked.  
  
"Yup. Sucks, doesn't it? Not that you'd know. You'll be gone by then. Are you taking your car or his, by the way?"  
  
"His," Heero answered. "I don't have a car."  
  
"Of course," Quatre said. "They don't let freshmen have cars."  
  
"We're not supposed to," Heero agreed. "Some people still do, though. Dorothy brought hers; it's an ugly, yellow thing, and she has to pay extravagant sums for the parking permits to keep it there. I guess she thinks it's worth it, though."  
  
"Well," Hilde said, "if you take Duo's car, that means I get his parking spot!" She smiled at the prospect. "That's almost enough to make me forget about the book. Almost, but not quite."  
  
"Hey, Hilde," Quatre asked, "is this it?" He held up a thick book with a picture of a flower on the front and a "used" sticker on the side.  
  
Hilde snatched it out of his hands. "Where did you find it?" she asked.  
  
"Sitting on the table underneath your chemistry notes," he answered.  
  
"Right where I left it," a new voice put in.  
  
Looking up, Heero was pleased to see Duo coming through the door.  
  
"Well, since I'm not you, I didn't know where you left it," Hilde rejoined, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
Duo ignored her. "Hi Heero. Sorry I'm late. Are you ready to go?"  
  
Heero got up from his spot on the couch. "Yes, I'm ready."  
  
"Great! Let me grab some stuff, and we can hit the road!"  
  
Within fifteen minutes, Heero's bags and the remainder of Duo's luggage had been packed in the car, goodbyes had been exchanged with Quatre and Hilde, and they were on the road. Duo insisted on driving first, so Heero settled back and took a nap for the first stretch of the trip.  
  
When he woke up, he had no idea where they were. The land looked the same on both sides of the highway: endless, flat, and brown.  
  
"What road are we on?" he asked, yawning.  
  
"One of the interstates," Duo answered. "Most boring stretches of road known to man. Say, Heero, there's a rest stop coming up soon. Do you want to switch then so you can drive? We're just going straight down this road for another three hours or so."  
  
"Sure," Heero said. "But why don't you just pull off at the next exit and find a place to park so we can switch there?"  
  
"Because I need to use the restrooms at said rest stop," Duo answered. "If I stay in this car much longer, I'm going to start singing the 'I Have to Pee' song."  
  
"There's an 'I Have to Pee' song?"  
  
"Yup," Duo grinned. "There's a little dance that goes along with it, but that's harder to do in the car."  
  
Heero just snorted, shook his head, and continued to stare out the window.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Hey, Heero! Wake up, we're here."  
  
Heero blinked sleepily and sat up, wincing as his neck muscles complained about the position they had been in for the last hour or so. Looking out of the window, he observed that they had stopped in front of a small house. The lawn was mostly brown and dead, and off to the side of the house stood a garage with two old cars parked in front of it.  
  
The passenger side door opened abruptly, and Duo was leaning down next to him, tugging at his arm. "C'mon, we're finally here!"  
  
"And about bloody time too!" came a voice Heero didn't recognize.  
  
Looking over Duo's shoulder, Heero caught sight of a man with grey hair. He was wearing sunglasses and the loudest Hawaiian shirt Heero had ever seen.  
  
"Howard!" Duo launched himself at the man with all the enthusiasm of a five year old on Christmas. "Great to see ya!"  
  
Howard somehow managed not to be bowled over by the assault, and accepted the hug gracefully. Then he held Duo at arm's length and surveyed him critically over his glasses.  
  
"You're too skinny," he complained. "Don't they feed you up there?"  
  
Duo laughed. "I'm in charge of feeding myself now. And anyway, you always say I'm too skinny."  
  
"That's 'cause you are," Howard returned.  
  
During this exchange, Heero had finally managed to wake himself up enough to get out of the car. He slammed the car door, and the noise seemed to draw Howard's attention to him. Peering over his glasses (Heero couldn't understand why he even bothered to wear them; it was night time, after all), he gave the newcomer the same critical stare he had fixed on Duo earlier.  
  
"So, this is the boyfriend, is it?" he said. Duo nodded, and he went on, this time addressing Heero. "I was wondering when I was going to get to meet you."  
  
"This is the first opportunity I've had to come here," Heero said. Holding out his hand, he added, "I'm Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."  
  
Howard shook his hand, but frown at him. "None of that 'sir' stuff; I can't stand it when people call me 'sir.' The name's Howard."  
  
"Howard," Heero repeated, releasing his hand and taking a step back.  
  
Howard nodded, apparently satisfied, and then gestured towards the open door of the house. "Well, c'mon in; I'm sure you're both tired after the long drive." He walked into the house, and they both trailed after him. They passed through a small living room, and by an even smaller kitchen. "Have you two eaten dinner yet?" Howard asked.  
  
Duo nodded. "We got something on the way down."  
  
Howard nodded vaguely. "Good. I'm afraid you're both going to have to stay in Duo's old room; the bed is made, and I set up a hammock in there too, since the bed is too narrow for two people."  
  
"Either that, or you're just trying to sabotage my sex life," Duo quipped, not noticing the way Heero's ears went red at the suggestion.  
  
Howard grunted. "You're an adult; your sex life is your own damn business. As long as I can't hear you, I don't care."  
  
"Gee, that's nice to know," Duo said. He yawned widely. "Man, I'm beat. I think I'll give Heero a brief tour of the place and then hit the sack, okay?"  
  
"Fine by me," Howard said. "See you in the morning."  
  
Howard vanished into a small room that Duo said was his. Heero simply continued to trail after Duo as the other showed him where the bathroom was. "And this," Duo said, opening a door with a small flourish, "is where we stay."  
  
The room was rather small, and barren. It contained a bed, a hammock, a card table, and two chairs.  
  
"I know it's kind of small," Duo said, observing his reaction closely.  
  
Heero shrugged. "No more so than the dorm rooms. It's just so... empty."  
  
"That's because I don't live here anymore," Duo said. "When I did, the walls were covered with posters and you were lucky if you could see the floor under all my stuff. Now Howard usually uses it for storage space and only clears it out when he knows I'm coming to visit."  
  
Heero nodded and continued to look around the small space.  
  
"So," Duo went on, "do you want the hammock or the bed?"  
  
Heero shrugged noncommittally.  
  
"Have you ever slept in a hammock before?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
"Then you'd better take the bed," Duo said. "Hammocks take a little getting used to."  
  
Heero shrugged, but agreed. With the sleeping arrangements worked out, both young men quickly set about getting ready for bed. They took turns in the bathroom, and Duo insisted that Heero go first. Consequently, Heero was already in bed when Duo returned to the room.  
  
Heero had expected Duo to change into his sleeping clothes in the bathroom, as he had done. However, Duo was used to changing in his own room, so when he returned, he simply stripped down to his boxers, ignoring the fact that he had an audience. A very appreciative audience at that...  
  
Despite the fact that they had been dating for over two months, Heero had never seen Duo with so little clothing. He felt his mouth go dry, and had to swallow once or twice to solve the problem. Damn, but Duo looked good without a shirt...  
  
"Goodnight, Heero," Duo said as he flipped off the light.  
  
"Goodnight," Heero managed to respond.  
  
There was the soft padding of feet on the floor, and then a rustling. Then suddenly, there was a startled yelp, followed by a thump and a curse. Heero sat bolt upright in bed. "Duo?"  
  
More curses followed the first.  
  
Climbing out of bed, Heero made his way over to the wall where the light switch was located and turned on the lights. What he saw was Duo sprawled on the floor, his bedding on top of him, and the hammock still swinging slightly.  
  
"Are you alright?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo blushed slightly. "I missed," was all he said.  
  
Heero couldn't help it; he burst out laughing. For a moment, Duo just glare at him. But after a minute, he unbent a little and began to laugh too. "Guess it serves me right for being overly confident about how to handle a hammock, huh?"  
  
Heero nodded, still laughing too hard to answered.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Heero awoke the next morning, it was to bright sunlight and unfamiliar surroundings. After a minute, he remembered that he was in Duo's old room, a recollection aided by the sight of his companion sprawled in the hammock. Heero smiled sleepily as he surveyed his sleeping boyfriend. It was something he'd had occasion to do before; every time he'd spent the night with Duo before, he'd always been the first one to wake up in the mornings, and usually had to be the one to wake Duo up. Still, it was something he enjoyed.  
  
It was obvious that Duo was not the most restful of sleepers. He'd twisted so that one of his arms was hanging out of the hammock, and he'd kicked the covers off at some point during the night. He was sprawled in a boneless and probably uncomfortable pose. Still, Heero couldn't help but find him attractive, even if he was at that moment drooling on his pillow.  
  
That state of events was not to last long, however. A loud knock came at the door, accompanied by Howard's voice. "Duo! It's nearly noon!"  
  
Duo's face scrunched up slightly. "Bugger off, Hilde," he muttered, still mostly asleep.  
  
Heero suppressed a snicker.  
  
The knocking intensified. "DUO!!"  
  
"What?!" Duo snapped, sitting up abruptly. Unfortunately, his sudden movement had the undesired effect of unbalancing him, causing the hammock to flip. With an *oof* he hit the floor, spilling pillows and blankets on top of him.  
  
"Duo?" Howard questioned, having heard the thump Duo made from outside.  
  
"I'm up!" Duo answered sourly. "Or down, as the case may be," he muttered to himself. Then, catching sight of Heero's face, he added, "Stop your laughing and just be glad I didn't make you sleep in the damn thing."  
  
After a shower and some breakfast (or lunch, depending on whose standards you went by), Duo was feeling much less grouchy. "So, Howard, what's on the agenda today?" he asked as he shoveled food into his mouth.  
  
"What, I'm supposed to entertain you?" Howard asked teasingly.  
  
"Nah," Duo answered easily. "I just figured you'd be happy to take advantage of the unpaid labor I provide."  
  
Howard just snorted and shook his head, so Duo turned to Heero. "Hey, Heero, you ever worked on a car before?"  
  
"No," Heero had to admit.  
  
"Never?" Duo asked, sounding like he couldn't quite believe that.  
  
Heero shrugged. "Well, just to put the oil in and stuff."  
  
"Didn't you ever take auto shop in high school?"  
  
Shaking his head, he answered, "No, I was too busy taking college prep courses. Why? Did you?"  
  
Duo grinned. "I never took the class because I never needed to. My uncle here," he gestured at Howard, "is a mechanic. A damned good one too, if I do say so. Usually, when I come home for break, we spend some male bonding time with our heads under the hoods of cars."  
  
"Sounds like fun," Heero said dryly.  
  
Duo laughed. "Well, it can be. So, you want to come with us and learn a thing or two about cars?"  
  
Heero considered for a moment. "Sure, why not."  
  
As Howard eyed him as though sizing him up and Duo gave him a grin that had a feral element to it, Heero wondered what in the world he had gotten himself into.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I can't believe you didn't know what a carburetor looked like," Duo laughed as he and Heero trudged towards the bathroom.  
  
"I can't believe you find that so funny," Heero retorted irritably. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to be clean and free of the grease and grime that coated him. He'd been enjoying himself enough that he hadn't noticed until Howard had told him that he was a quick learner and ruffled his hair. Having a man he barely knew ruffling his hair was bad enough, but what made things worse was that, after working on cars all day, Howard's hands had been nearly black. Heero could swear he felt the grease seeping through his hair, and resisted the urge to rub his head, knowing that it would only make things worse.  
  
"I get the shower first," he said.  
  
"No way!" Duo protested. "It's my house!"  
  
"And I'm your guest," Heero reminded him.  
  
"So?" Duo said. "I got dirtier than you did today."  
  
Their argument was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door closing and, a moment later, the sound of running water. They stopped and looked at each other.  
  
"Howard?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo nodded, looking put out. "Who'd have thought? The old geezer beat us to it."  
  
And they settled down together to wait until the bathroom was free.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next day, when Heero woke up, it was to a silent house. Duo was asleep in the hammock, the same as the morning before, but there was no movement in the rest of the house. Curious, he got up and wandered out of the bedroom, ignoring the fact that he had very few clothes on.  
  
There was no sign of Howard. Aside from himself and Duo, the house seemed to be empty. Nor could he find a note of any kind suggesting where Duo's uncle was. Confused, Heero settled down to wait and see whether Howard would put in an appearance.  
  
As it turned out, Duo was the first one to put in an appearance. He came out, yawning and stretching, and groggily stumbled towards the kitchen, mumbling something about breakfast.  
  
"Shouldn't you get dressed first?" Heero asked.  
  
"Why bother?" Duo said as he headed for the coffee maker. "There's no one here but you and me."  
  
"Where's Howard?"  
  
"He had to go to work. It's Monday, and just because we're off doesn't mean he is." Having poured himself a cup of coffee of unknown age, Duo set about rummaging in the cupboards. "He won't be back until later this evening."  
  
Heero nodded vaguely, watching his boyfriend pull out a box of cereal and two bowls. "What do we do today while he's gone?" he asked.  
  
Duo shrugged. "Are you any good at cards?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next few days passed in a fairly uneventful manner. While Howard was at work during the day, Heero and Duo would pass the time by playing cards and board games, or by going out in Duo's car. Duo pointed places out to Heero, and told him about his high school friends, most of whom were no longer around. Heero got better at poker and card games in general, and enjoyed the pride that came with the ability to win every once in a while.  
  
It was on such a day, as they sat on the floor in Duo's room playing Egyptian Poker, that Heero decided to ask about something that he had been wondering about for several days. "You know, Duo," he started causally, "you and Howard don't look a lot alike.  
  
Duo paused for a moment, then threw another card onto the pile. "That's because he's not really my uncle."  
  
"Then why do you call him that?" Heero asked.  
  
"Because it sure beats calling him Dad," Duo answered harshly. He spotted a pair and slapped the pile a little more vigorously than was necessary. For another moment, they played in silence, neither one looking at the other.  
  
Finally, Duo sighed and ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. "Look, Heero, I'd really rather not talk about it. Suffice it to say that even thought Howard isn't related to me, he was the only one left after my parents died. That's all I'm going to say about it for now, okay?"  
  
"Okay," Heero answered quietly. He quietly added another card to the pile. Another pair came up, but neither of them noticed, and it went unslapped. After a moment, Heero quietly said, "I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if he was speaking about Duo's loss or about his bringing the subject up.  
  
Duo chose to interpret it as an apology for the subject. "It's alright," he said. "I just don't like talking about it, that's all."  
  
Heero nodded understandingly, even though he didn't really understand. They continued to play in silence.  
  
~*~*~  
  
For a little while after their conversation, relations between Heero and Duo were somewhat strained. Heero tried hard to be careful and avoid any subject even remotely related to parents, and Duo seemed to be trying to avoid conversation in general. However, by the time Howard had returned, they had reached an uneasy truce.  
  
If Howard noticed the tension between them, he didn't give any sign to that effect. However, Heero did notice that both he and Duo vanished for a little while after dinner. They were back before he had much time to wonder where they were, and he noticed that while Duo was still very subdued, he seemed more at ease.  
  
That night, as they were climbing into bed, Duo finally spoke. "I'm sorry if I seemed irritated with you earlier."  
  
"You had a right to be," Heero said. "It was really none of my business."  
  
"But you're my boyfriend, so that makes it kind of your business," Duo pointed out. "It's just that things got a lot harder after my parents died. I mean, Howard's great, and he really tries hard, but it's not the same. And on top of all that, there were the financial issues, and..." he trailed off, then grimaced. "It was just a mess. In some ways, it still is."  
  
"Is that why you have to work at the library?" Heero asked, forgetting some of his earlier trepidation about asking personal questions.  
  
"Work in the library, apply for financial aid and scholarships, anything I can get," Duo said. "That's why it's so important that I do well in my classes, which was one of the reasons I was so glad you agreed to help me with my math that first quarter. Well, that and I got a great boyfriend out the deal," he added, smiling over at Heero.  
  
"I don't recall that being part of the initial agreement," Heero grumbled teasingly.  
  
Duo grinned. "It's a perk."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Bye, Howard!" Duo yelled out the window one last time as they pulled away. Behind them, Howard raised his hand once more in a farewell gesture, and then they turned a corner and lost sight of him and the house.  
  
"Watch the road, Duo," Heero admonished as Duo twisted his head to stare back longingly once more.  
  
"I know," Duo said, straightening and giving him a sheepish grin. "I just always hate leaving home. I love school and all that, but the holidays always seem to short for me. You ever have that problem?"  
  
"Not really," Heero admitted. "I prefer school to home. More freedom and more friends."  
  
Duo smiled knowingly. "Well, you're in luck, because in approximately six hours, we'll be back at school and getting ready to start a new quarter."  
  
"Yay," Heero muttered.  
  
Tbc  
  
Alright, I know it's been almost three months since I updated. I really am sorry. My excuses are: 1) this turned out to be an abnormally long chapter, and 2) I get distracted easily. Hopefully, the next part shouldn't take as long. 


	17. Frantic Searches

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 17: Frantic Searches  
  
The moment Heero walked into his room, he knew from the look on his roommate's face that something was afoot. "Alright, Wufei, what did you do?"  
  
"Whatever makes you think I did anything?" Wufei asked, still smirking slightly.  
  
"Because you look entirely too smug," Heero said, regarding the other suspiciously.  
  
"Let's just say that Dorothy should find an interesting surprise when she gets back," Wufei answered. "It won't quite make up for the incident with the door, but it will help settle the score a little."  
  
Heero wondered if it would be futile to try and explain to Wufei that his actions didn't mean that the score was settled, but simply that it was Dorothy's turn to act now.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I swear, Dorothy," Relena said, "I didn't leave the door unlocked."  
  
"How else could he get in?" Dorothy demanded angrily. She moved restlessly, like she wanted to pace around the room, but she couldn't, due largely to the fact that the middle of her floor was occupied by a large, continuous structure of Dixie cups, each one stapled to its neighbors and full of water.  
  
"Maybe he got in the same way you get into his room," Relena suggested, eager to clear herself of any charges of negligence.  
  
"Couldn't be," Dorothy said dismissively. "As far as I know, he doesn't know anyone at the Area Service Desk. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, that prick is going to die! The cups are bad enough, but I want to know what the hell he did with my posters!" She eyed the cups with irritation. "And how am I supposed to clean up this mess?" she demanded to no one in particular. "It's too wide to fit through the door."  
  
"It's easy," Relena said. "Just get a stapler remover and take it apart. And have a mop handy, just in case you fail."  
  
"I don't remember where I left my staple remover," Dorothy muttered. "I think it's in there." She headed towards her desk. However, on the way across the room, her foot hit one of the cups, and the entire structure shook ominously. Water sloshed over the floor, and the next step cause her to slip. She was vaguely aware of Relena's horrified cry as she went down, crushing the cup structure and spilling water across the floor.  
  
When she sat up, Dorothy was not a happy camper. Her clothes were soaked, and Relena was standing at the edge of the room, trying to avoid getting her feet wet. "Not a word of this," Dorothy snarled at her roommate.  
  
Relena shook her head timidly. "Not a word," she repeated. Then she spotted something, and moved gingerly over to the area next to Dorothy's bed. Bending down, she retrieved the item, and when she straightened, she had several soggy sheets of something in her hands. "Um, Dorothy?" she said, apologetically. "I think I found your posters."  
  
"WUFEI!!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
"It was perfect, don't you think?" Wufei asked at dinner, still looking smug as he poked at the dinning hall's version of spaghetti with his fork.  
  
Heero cast a glance across the room to where Dorothy and Relena were eating with several other girls from the dorm. At least, Relena and the others were eating; Dorothy seemed to be trying to burn holes in Wufei's back with the malevolence of her gaze. "I don't know," he answered. "I think you'll end up regretting this."  
  
"Feh!" Wufei scoffed. "What would you have me do, anyway? Give up and let that conniving woman win? Where's the justice in that?"  
  
"Maybe then said woman would stop persecuting you," Heero mumbled into his slice of pizza.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Hmph." Wufei didn't look convinced, but he didn't press, preferring instead to go on about Dorothy. "Of all the bad luck, getting stuck in a building with her was the worst thing that could have happened to me. If they hadn't put me in a co-ed dorm, there wouldn't have been a problem. At least next year I'll be safe. I know what apartment complex she's living in, and it's far away from me."  
  
The last bit of that statement took Heero by surprise. "You mean you both already know where you're going to live next year?"  
  
Wufei stopped waving his fork around as he ranted and stared at his roommate. "You mean you don't?"  
  
Heero shook his head.  
  
Wufei let out an exasperated sigh. "Where have you been, Yuy? People have been signing leases since February. You have to start early if you want to find a place."  
  
Wufei quickly went back to his rant against Dorothy, but Heero had stopped listening. He was wondering just how much trouble he was in.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Apartments, huh?" Duo paused, incidentally blocking the walkway with his book cart. Fortunately, no one else was around to care.  
  
"Yes. When did you find yours last year?"  
  
"I think we signed the lease in March," Duo said, looking thoughtful. "Why? Have you found a place?"  
  
"Not yet," Heero muttered sullenly.  
  
"Better get a move on," Duo told him. "Most places have vacancies in March, but they go fast, depending on the place."  
  
"It's almost April." Heero sounded gloomy.  
  
"Well, then I'd say you've got some apartment hunting in you future."  
  
"I'm starting tomorrow afternoon," Heero said. "Do you think you could come with me?" he added hopefully.  
  
"I've got to work," Duo reminded him. "Anyway, I really wouldn't want to. Apartment hunting wasn't that much fun the first time around."  
  
That only served to make Heero even gloomier.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Heero kicked the door closed behind him rather harder than was necessary. Feeling that the gesture was insufficient to convey his frustration, he kicked his book bag, which was lying on the floor next to his bed. Then he kicked it again. This might have gone on for quite some time, had he not decided to kick his bedpost. Unlike the previous objects, the bedpost did not give ground under his foot, and the end result was Heero jumping up and down, clutching his bruised foot and cursing fluently in English and Japanese.  
  
"I take it the apartment hunt did not go well?" Wufei asked mildly, having set aside the homework he was working on to watch his roommate make a fool of himself.  
  
Heero's continued swearing was answer enough.  
  
Shaking his head in a sage manner that Heero found terribly annoying, Wufei said, "I told you you should have started looking earlier."  
  
"If you had told me that earlier," Heero snarled, "I might have."  
  
"Well," Wufei replied irritably, "it's not my fault that you can't be bothered to keep up with such things."  
  
With a wordless growl, Heero snatched his abused book bag up and flung a random folder and book into it. Closing it, he stalked back towards the door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Wufei asked.  
  
"To the library," Heero answered shortly before slamming the door behind him.  
  
Wufei stared at the closed door for a moment. "I almost pity Duo," he muttered. Then, shaking his head, he returned to his books.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Don't worry so much, Heero," Duo said consolingly. "You'll find something."  
  
"I've been looking for days," Heero muttered. "I'm even starting to fall behind in my schoolwork, and I still haven't found anything that's not a million miles away from campus or too expensive."  
  
"I'm really sorry, Heero," Duo said. "I'd help you if I could, but I haven't heard of anything. And you can't come and live with me, unless you want to share a room with Hilde. Somehow I don't think you do, and she'd probably have a fit if I even suggested it."  
  
Heero groaned in frustration and let his head fall against the desk in a gesture of despair.  
  
Moving to sit on the desk, Duo reached over and ran his fingers through Heero's hair comfortingly. "It's not all that bad. You won't wind up living on the streets next year. If worst comes to worst, you answer some of the advertisements for roommates. There are always plenty of people looking for one more person to split the rent with."  
  
"Just what I want," Heero muttered sarcastically. "To live with a bunch of people I've never met before."  
  
"There are worse things," Duo said. "You're sulking, Heero, and that's not going to get you anywhere."  
  
Heero raised his head to glare at his boyfriend. "I am not sulking," he asserted.  
  
Duo rolled his eyes. "Yes, you are."  
  
Heero moved his head away from Duo's hand. "I am not! Anyway, what would you know about it?"  
  
"Now calm down," Duo said, raising his hands in the air in a placating gesture. "Don't get all angry with me."  
  
Heero let his head drop again. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm just frustrated."  
  
"I know you are," Duo said comfortingly. "But getting mad at me won't help."  
  
"I know," Heero said glumly.  
  
Duo looked down at the other sympathetically, then brightened. "You know what you need? You need something to take your mind off this. Stick around until closing, and I'll show you something, okay?"  
  
"Alright," Heero said, curious as to what Duo was up to.  
  
"Great!" Duo beamed at him. "I've got to go earn my paycheck now, and I assume you need to study. Meet me at the periodicals room in an hour and a half."  
  
"But it will be closed by then," Heero pointed out.  
  
Duo winked at him. "That's the point."  
  
~*~*~  
  
The periodicals room was already locked when Heero got there, but Duo was inside and let him in. Grinning mischievously, he gestured Heero over to the part of the room where the newspapers were kept.  
  
"See this?" he asked, holding up a wooden holder with a newspaper in it. "What does it look like to you?"  
  
Heero studied the holder, which Duo was grasping by its handle. At the other end, the wood was split in several places, allowing the newspaper to be put into it. A rubber band kept the pieces held together. "It looks like a newspaper holder," he answered.  
  
"Ah," Duo said knowingly. "It looks like a newspaper holder now. But watch this!" He removed the rubber band, took the newspaper out of the holder, and set it aside, replacing the rubber band at the end. Then he flourished the holder. "En Guard!"  
  
Heero suddenly saw what is was Duo was getting at. The holders by themselves did rather resemble wooden practice swords. He also noticed that Duo had already removed the other newspapers, leaving their holders in a pile. "So what do we do now?" he asked, picking up a holder.  
  
"Well, first, we make sure there are no administrators or senior librarians around," Duo said. "Technically, we're not supposed to do this, and if we break one of the holders, we've got a problem on our hands. These things are a pain to replace." After cautiously checking around to make sure they were alone, Duo posed dramatically with his holder. "The first move is yours."  
  
It was great fun. They fenced around the basement, dodging in and out of the shelves where the magazines were stacked. Heero had to remind himself not to swing too hard, for fear of breaking his "weapon." As they danced their strange dance among the periodicals, Heero found himself forgetting all about his trouble finding an apartment. His irritation vanished, and he laughed along with Duo as they playfully whacked each other.  
  
However, it ended rather abruptly when the door to the maps section of swung open and a short, Korean girl came into the room where they were, carrying an armload of papers. She looked up and caught sight of them, flushed and sweating, with the "weapons" in their hands, both of them trying unsuccessfully to look innocent.  
  
"Duo," she said reprovingly, "are you sparring with the newspaper racks _again_?"  
  
"Um... yes?" he answered, grinning sheepishly at her.  
  
She pouted at him. "I want to play too!"  
  
"Don't you have work to do?" Heero asked her.  
  
"I could ask you the same thing," she replied.  
  
"I'll let you know next time I do it so you can play too, okay? Promise," Duo said.  
  
The girl went off, apparently placated, but Duo set his "sword" aside. "We should probably stop now," he said. "Don't want to get caught, after all."  
  
Heero nodded and set his aside as well. "I should be going," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Duo nodded and leaned over to kiss him lightly. "Good luck with the apartment," he said.  
  
Heero nodded and headed out the door.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Oh, Heero, you're back! Good."  
  
Heero warily eyed the blond menace that confronted him. "What is it you want, Dorothy?"  
  
"Just a word with you," she said, smiling sweetly. Oddly enough, he found the smile almost as threatening as a glare would have been. "I hear you've been looking for a place to stay next year."  
  
"Who from?" he asked. For a moment he wondered if Wufei had told her, but decided that that was unlikely, as the two of them were not on speaking terms.  
  
"That's not important." She waved it aside. "Anyway, Relena and I are going to live together next year, and we've got a three bedroom apartment lined up. The problem is that our third roommate backed out. She's decided to take a year off. We were thinking about advertising for another roommate, but we'd rather live with someone we know. Anyway, we were wondering if you'd be interested."  
  
Heero stared at her. He couldn't believe she was offering, just like that. While she didn't despise him the way she did Wufei, the two of them were still not on great terms. Still, the offer of a place to live was not to be cast aside lightly. "Thank you. I'll think about it," he told her.  
  
"There's just one thing," she said.  
  
/Ah,/ Heero thought. /Of course, there's a catch./  
  
"My grandfather isn't really thrilled with the idea of me sharing an apartment with a guy," Dorothy continued. "He's a bit old fashioned like that, but he's also helping to pay for my college education, so of course, I have to honor his wishes."  
  
"Of course," Heero echoed, wondering why she'd made the offer in the first place if she couldn't live with a male.  
  
"But Grandfather isn't completely unreasonable. It's just that he'd feel much better if he knew the man I was going to live with was already committed to a girlfriend."  
  
Suddenly, Heero had a nasty feeling he knew where this was going. Still, he waited, hoping he was wrong.  
  
"I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with you living with us if you were, say, dating Relena."  
  
"Excuse me?" Heero glared at her, wondering that she had to audacity to make such a suggestion, until he realized that she probably didn't know about his relationship with Duo.  
  
"Relena's totally fine with this," Dorothy said, implying that he should be as well. "Especially since it would really be the only way we could allow you to live with us."  
  
Heero glared at her venomously. Damn her for attaching strings like that! And she seemed to expect him to take up her offer too!  
  
"Well," she said, seeing that her suggestion was going to be met with stony silence, "think it over. You know where to find me when you decide."  
  
"Is that all?" he asked her coldly.  
  
"Not quite," she said, smiling evilly. "Tell your roommate not to sleep too soundly."  
  
TBC...  
  
Author's ramblings: If I don't get the next part of this up fairly soon, it's because my organic chemistry class has once again eaten my life. Please be patient. 


	18. Possible Solutions

Well, it's week 3 of the quarter, which means it's open season on students. In other words, midterms have started. And seeing as how my first big one is tomorrow, I might have known I'd be up late writing this...  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 18: Possible Solutions  
  
Heero found that Dorothy's proposition perturbed him more than he wanted to admit. While his first instinct had been to yell "No!" in Dorothy's face and see how she would take it, several more days of fruitless apartment searching had him thinking that maybe, just maybe, he should consider it.  
  
He still had some trouble taking the offer seriously sometimes. Often, he wondered what in the world Dorothy was playing at. Was she trying to make Relena happy or just make him miserable? So far all she had succeeded in doing was filling him with indecision. The rational part of his brain told him that a place to live was a place to live, and that pretending to date Relena wouldn't be so hard. His conscience, on the other hand, screamed at him that even if he could have done such a thing before, now that was Duo in the picture, it was out of the question.  
  
Duo. There was another problem. Did he tell Duo about Dorothy's wild proposition? Heero was almost certain he knew what the reaction would be if he did. Duo would sputter and get indignant, asking how in the world Dorothy could even think that he would take her up on the offer. Which, of course, made Heero feel like a cad every time he did think about it.  
  
After several days had passed, and Heero had still said nothing, Duo seemed to notice that something was off. "Are you okay?" he asked suddenly one day as they were sitting in a corner of the library together.  
  
"I'm fine," Heero answered, without much conviction.  
  
"You seem... distressed about something," Duo hedged, picking his words carefully. "Is it the whole apartment thing?"  
  
Heero nodded, but still didn't elaborate.  
  
"I'm sure you'll find something," Duo said consolingly, repeating his message of the past several days. Heero gave him a slightly disbelieving look, but chose not to comment.  
  
"Maybe you're going about it the wrong way," Duo went on. "I know you'd probably prefer to live alone, but maybe you should ask around among people you know and see if there's anyone who's looking for a roommate."  
  
Heero considered telling him that he'd tried that already, but then realized that he hadn't really. After all, the only other people he had talked to on the subject were Wufei and Dorothy, neither of whom had been especially helpful. There were still plenty of other people left in the dorm who might be able to help him. He perked up a little.  
  
"Yeah, I'll try that," he said.  
  
With that prospect in mind, Heero went back to his chemistry reading with renewed enthusiasm. Duo was right; there had to be other people he knew, even slightly, who would be looking for a roommate, and they wouldn't attach such ridiculous conditions. The problem was starting to look manageable again.  
  
Just as he was thinking that, the unexpected happened.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
Heero looked up, and instantly wished that he was somewhere else as he saw Relena coming towards him.  
  
"Hi," he greeted weakly. /Please,/ he wished desperately, /please go away. Don't mention anything about the apartment./  
  
"I'm glad I found you," Relena said cheerfully, unaware of his thoughts. "Dorothy and I are going to go sign the lease tomorrow, and we were wondering what time would be good so you could come with us."  
  
"Now hold on a minute," Heero said, holding up a hand to forestall whatever else she might say. "I haven't agreed to anything yet."  
  
"You haven't?" Relena looked confused. "But Dorothy said..."  
  
"Well, Dorothy was mistaken," Heero growled.  
  
"Oh." She was looking so disappointed that Heero felt briefly guilty. Then he pushed that aside. After all, Dorothy was the one who had deluded her about her chances, not him.  
  
"What's all this about?" Duo asked curiously, and Heero suddenly felt the need to slap his hand over someone's mouth; Duo's or Relena's, he wasn't sure.  
  
"Well," Relena said, mastering her disappointment, "Dorothy and I -Dorothy's my roommate, by the way- we were looking for a third roommate for our apartment next year. And Dorothy asked Heero, and she told me she was pretty sure he was in, but I guess not."  
  
"I don't think it's a suitable living arrangement," Heero muttered, hoping that it would be left at that.  
  
"You aren't worried about Dorothy's grandfather, are you? I know he doesn't think it's suitable, but he would if you were dating me."  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Heero noticed Duo go very still, but he didn't dare turn to face him. "That's why it wouldn't be suitable," he said. Inwardly, he cursed Relena as creatively as he could. A small part of his conscience nagged him, telling him it wasn't really her fault, but he was still extremely irritated with her for putting him in the hot water, however inadvertently.  
  
Relena frowned at him. "That's not a very nice thing to say," she said. "You make it sound like such a bad thing."  
  
"I thought we've been over this already," Heero growled. "I thought you understood my reasons." After all, he thought, she had been the one who had first brought up the possibility of him being gay.  
  
Relena's lip quivered, and for a moment, Heero feared that she was going to start crying. Crying women always made him uncomfortable. But she didn't cry, thankfully. Instead, with as much dignity as she could muster, she said, "I guess I thought that maybe there was still hope for you. I was wrong." Then, spinning on her heel, she almost ran towards the exit.  
  
"A woman scorned..." Duo murmured quietly, and Heero dared to look at him fro the first time since Relena's revelation. Duo didn't look especially angry or hurt, just quietly thoughtful.  
  
"Well, you wouldn't have wanted me to actually date her, would you?" Heero asked, a little surprised by how well Duo was taking this.  
  
"No, of course not," Duo said. "But it doesn't seem like there was much danger of that. Was that really one of the requirements to get the apartment?"  
  
"Oh yes. Dorothy thinks up some crazy things."  
  
"Well, we already knew that," Duo answered, smiling slightly. "I take it this was what you spent so much time agonizing about?"  
  
Heero nodded sheepishly. "You're not mad, are you?"  
  
"Mad?" Duo sounded surprised. "Why should I be mad just because a couple of girls thought up a crazy way to proposition you?"  
  
As Heero went back again to work on his chemistry, he felt as if a great load had been lifted from him.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Feeling like a fool, Heero moved on to the next door and knocked. As he stood waiting for an answer, he glanced around the rest of the second floor. He was making the rounds, asking his dorm mates if any of them would have a room to spare next year. So far he had had no luck on the first floor, so he had moved up to the second, where he was pointedly ignoring room 210.  
  
The door before him opened to reveal a vaguely familiar girl with short hair and blue eyes. "Yes?" she asked.  
  
Hero stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out where he had seen her before, before launching into his speech. "You see, I'm looking for a place to live next year..."  
  
By the time he was finished, Heero was certain of two things. The first was that this was indeed one of the girls who had come rushing down in an attempt to see Wufei strapped to the door. The second was that he had finally hit a possible success. The girl's eyes had brightened the minute he mentioned apartment hunting.  
  
She waited politely until he had finished his little explanation, then said, "Well, my roommate and I did sign the lease on an apartment last month, and we've been looking for a third roommate. We can show you the place, if you're interested, and you'd have your own room, of course."  
  
Heero nodded and dutifully took down her email address and other contact info, telling her he'd survey the options and get back to her. He wasn't really all that eager to live in an apartment with only female roommates, but these two seemed better than the alternatives.  
  
~*~*~  
  
It was several days later that Duo walked into his apartment to discover that Quatre was not in his accustomed spot at the table, but sitting curled into a rather dejected ball on the couch. Recognizing the pose as one he often used when he was upset, Duo moved over to sit beside his roommate.  
  
"Hey, Quatre," he said. "You look pretty down. What's going on?"  
  
Quatre listlessly raised one hand, holding out a sheet of paper.  
  
"What's this?" Duo said.  
  
"A letter from my father," Quatre answered glumly. "Read it."  
  
Taking the letter, Duo glanced through it quickly, then went back and read it again, eyebrows raised. Then he whistled.  
  
"Damn Serrin!" Quatre said with feeling. "She just had to open her mouth and blab to Father."  
  
"I thought he found out about you and Trowa sometime last year," Duo said, confused.  
  
"He did," Quatre muttered. "And believe me, I heard about it then too. But I don't live with him anymore; he can't micromanage my life now."  
  
"Does he know you're still seeing Trowa even though he told you not to?"  
  
"I think he suspected," Quatre said wearily. "But he didn't really know for sure until recently."  
  
"Ah," Duo said. "So what exactly sparked all this off?"  
  
"Trowa's roommate announced his intention of moving out this year," Quatre said. "Trowa told me about it a few weeks ago. He wanted me to move in with him, and I wanted to as well. But I made the mistake of telling one of my sisters, and of course, you can't tell one without all of them knowing, and then Father found out..."  
  
"And now everything is a mess," Duo concluded.  
  
"He's threatening to disinherit me!" Quatre cried.  
  
"Doesn't he threaten you with that once a year? I think it's just time for the annual renewal."  
  
"I think he means it this time," Quatre said dismally. "At the very least, he's threatened to cut off my college funding if I move in with Trowa."  
  
"Well," Duo said, "that leaves you with two options, then. You can either not move in with Trowa, in which case things stay much as they are now, or you can damn your father to hell, apply for financial aid, get a job, and do whatever you want to."  
  
"They won't let me apply for financial aid," Quatre pointed out miserably. "My family makes too much money. And I don't think a part time job would be enough to cover tuition plus living expenses."  
  
"No, probably not," Duo agreed.  
  
"I just need to get through college," Quatre said. "Once I'm out and I can get a job of my own, I won't have to rely on my father any more, and I can do whatever I please. But until then..."  
  
"I'm sure Trowa will understand," Duo said comfortingly.  
  
"I know he does. I already talked to him about it. It's just... I was really looking forward to it..."  
  
"Aw, hell," Duo muttered, and pulled his roommate into a hug. "You'll get to someday; you just gotta look towards the future."  
  
"Yeah," Quatre muttered. "I still feel bad, though. Now Trowa's going to have to advertise for another roommate, because I had to back out."  
  
"Another roommate..." Duo said, eyes widening as he grasped the implications. "So the spot's still open?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Quatre, I love you!"  
  
"What?" Quatre eyed his roommate warily.  
  
"Totally platonic, of course," Duo added. "This is just too perfect. Quatre, I'm really sorry for your misfortune, but it might just mean the end of mine. Or, rather, the end of Heero's."  
  
"Oh," Quatre said, catching on. "Of course. Heero's still looking for a place, isn't he? I should have thought of that."  
  
"I think you can be excused for not thinking of it. But let's give Trowa a call, and see if he's interested..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next day, as Heero was coming back from lunch in the dinning hall, he was surprised to see Duo, Quatre, and Trowa all standing outside his building, evidently waiting for him. After all the appropriate greetings had been exchanged, Trowa got straight to the point.  
  
"I hear you're looking for a place to live next year."  
  
Heero nodded, looking back and forth between the three of them, trying to figure out what was going on. Duo looked hopeful and excited, Quatre seemed slightly disappointed, and Trowa's face was neutral.  
  
"I'll have a vacancy at my apartment, and rather than advertising for a roommate, Duo suggested I try you first."  
  
Heero frowned. There was something slightly wrong with this picture. Why would Trowa ask him first, instead of Quatre? He looked between the two of them, noticing only that they weren't looking at each other. But when he opened his mouth to ask Trowa why he was coming to him, Duo caught his eye and shook his head.  
  
Heero closed his mouth, paused a moment, then said, "I'd have to see the place first. And know how much the rent is."  
  
Trowa smiled slightly. "Of course. Why don't we go inside and discuss the details?"  
  
Heero let them into the building, and the four of them trailed down the hall of the first floor. Heero was strongly reminded of the last time Trowa and Quatre had come into the building with him, but fortunately, when he reached his room, Wufei was nowhere to be seen.  
  
Trowa had evidently been thinking along the same lines, for he remarked, "No roommates strapped to the door this time? That's always a good start." And smiling slightly, he reached for the doorknob, twisting it and letting the door swing open.  
  
It was Heero's quick reflexes that saved him. Jumping back quickly, he was able to avoid the missile that came hurtling through the air towards him. Trowa, however, had been standing right in the line of fire, and was not so fortunate. A pie tin fell to the floor, revealing the whipped-cream covered mess that was Trowa. His face and hair had suffered the worst, but both his shirt and the wall behind him had been heavily spattered.  
  
For a moment, all of them just stood there staring at him. Quatre looked shocked, but Duo looked as though he were trying very hard not to laugh. And Trowa... It was impossible to tell what his face looked like underneath the mass of white foam.  
  
"I should remember, next time, that no roommate strapped to the door doesn't necessarily mean it's safe," Trowa remarked at last.  
  
"Who did that?" Quatre asked, his voice quavering slightly.  
  
Heero turned to look at him, having noted the change. Quatre was standing ramrod straight, face pale, eyes fixed on Trowa. There was a gleam entering those eyes that Heero did not like at all, but he answered anyway. "Dorothy, of course. Who else?"  
  
"Doesn't she have any compassion for innocent bystanders?" Quatre demanded.  
  
"Now that you mention it, no."  
  
"I see," Quatre answered calmly. The quavering note had left his voice, but the gleam in his eyes was more pronounced than ever. Even Duo was eyeing his roommate warily. "Well, Trowa, I believe the men's bathroom is on the second floor; you'd better go clean off as best you can."  
  
Trowa might have nodded, but it was hard to tell under all that whipped cream. Turning around, the tall young man headed off for the stairs.  
  
"Quatre," Duo said warily, "what are you thinking?"  
  
"Why Duo," Quatre answered, his voice still perfectly calm, "such an action cannot go unanswered. She's stepped out of line this time. If it had been me, I might have been able to forgive her, but attacking Trowa is unacceptable."  
  
"Look, she didn't 'attack' Trowa, he just happened to get caught in the line of fire," Duo pointed out.  
  
"That just makes it worse," Quatre said.  
  
"Quatre, you're starting to creep me out, man. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry," Quatre replied. "There won't be anything stupid about what I'm going to do to her."  
  
Tbc  
  
Author's Notes: Well, only one more chapter to go! Yes! I'm almost done! I'm getting caught up! I might actually finish something!  
  
Muse: And then you can start on something new!  
  
Rapunzel: I think someone just totally missed the point... 


	19. Developing Plots

I got a comment last time about the morality of having a "Rainbow Pride Floor" in the freshmen dorms. I would just like to state, for the record, that I did not make that up. There really was such a floor in one of the dorms when I was a freshman, and as far as I know, there still is. It was meant to provide a safe environment for the students living there, rather than to segregate them from the general populace. I don't know what the majority of the LGBT community thinks on the subject. I'm sure if I asked around, I'd find both sides of the issue represented.  
  
On another note, for those who haven't seen it already, I got fan art! My friends M.E. and Blue Jeans conspired to draw a picture of Wufei during "The Whipped Cream Incident." It can be found at http: //www. huntersglade. com/ art /a /wld_wcfei .jpg  
  
Enough ramblings. On with the fic!  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 19: Developing Plots  
  
For Heero, the next few days went by in a flurry of events and paperwork. By the end of the week he had worked out an arrangement, had his practically non-existent credit history checked, and signed the lease for Trowa's apartment. By the time all that was finished and Heero was finally through looking for an apartment, he was astonished to find how little of the quarter remained.  
  
Since the apartment hunt had taken up so much of his time, Heero found himself scrambling in order to catch up with his school work. His time at the library was now spent doing more reading than chatting. Fortunately, Duo didn't seem to mind. He was preoccupied with problems of his own.  
  
"I don't like it," Duo muttered for the third time. "It's like he's obsessing about it. Every spare minute he has when he's not eating, sleeping, visiting Trowa, or busy with school, he spends plotting against her. When I ask him what he's doing, he just mutters something about the perfect plan for revenge."  
  
"He's starting to sound like Wufei," Heero muttered, tearing out a piece of graph paper and starting on his math homework.  
  
"I know!" Duo said. "Except he's even worse than Wufei!"  
  
"That's not possible," Heero said, pulling out a ruler and trying to get the axes for his graph perfect.  
  
"Oh yes it is, because it's Quatre," Duo replied. "Every once in a while, something major will happen, and he'll go off like this. Trowa calls it going Zero System, because he gets this one fixed notion in his head and he zeros in on it and ignores everything else."  
  
"Sounds intense."  
  
"Scary, is what it is!" Duo said. "Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often. And usually, when it does happen, we can just turn him over to Trowa and let him take care of it. Unfortunately, that won't work in this case, since Trowa is kind of what started this in the first place."  
  
Heero, absorbed in his graph, just grunted in response.  
  
"Still," Duo mused, "I suppose I should be glad. If he's still busy plotting, it means he hasn't done anything yet."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I've got it!"  
  
Duo and Hilde both looked up from what they were doing to stare at Quatre. "What have you got?" Hilde asked.  
  
"The perfect plan!" Quatre said, his eyes alight.  
  
"Uh... That's nice," Hilde said cautiously.  
  
"No." Quatre's smile was sly and calculating, very unlike his usual, sweet smile. "It's not nice at all. That's why it's perfect." Then he frowned. "There are still some flaws, things I need to work out. It might not be a tenable solution."  
  
"If it's your idea, I'm sure it'll be brilliant," Hilde said.  
  
"Hilde!" Duo hissed at her. "You're not supposed to encourage him!"  
  
But Quatre didn't need any encouragement; he was already in motion. "Duo, can we go visit Heero tomorrow?"  
  
"Uh, sure," Duo replied warily. "I usually meet him in the library before my shift starts."  
  
"Can we meet him at the dorms?" Quatre asked.  
  
"I guess." Duo eyed his roommate suspiciously. "What do you want with him?"  
  
"Nothing much," Quatre said breezily. "I just want to ask him a few questions, that's all."  
  
Somehow, Duo doubted that that really _was_ all.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Much to Duo's surprise, when he and Quatre managed to locate Heero outside the dorms the next day, his roommate immediately engaged Heero in a lengthy discussion about cars. Heero obviously didn't understand the choice of subject matter either, but he went along with the conversation gamely enough.  
  
Since Heero had not eaten lunch, they found themselves drifting towards the dinning hall. Duo trailed along behind the other two. He was just wondering if he'd mistaken Quatre's intentions when he suddenly found himself tuning in to their conversation.  
  
"Of course," Heero was saying, "freshmen aren't supposed to have cars. The parking space on campus is too limited."  
  
"But surely some freshmen bring their cars," Quatre said. "I mean, it's hard to do without them, especially for people who live far away."  
  
Suddenly, something clicked into place in Duo's mind.  
  
"Dorothy has a car, doesn't she?" he asked, interjecting himself into the conversation.  
  
Heero blinked, surprised. "Yes, she does."  
  
"Does she?" Quatre asked, doing his best to look innocent and failing.  
  
"You conniving brat!" Duo addressed his roommate. "You already knew that, didn't you?"  
  
Quatre nodded sheepishly. "Heero mentioned it just before the two of you left for spring break."  
  
"Why are you interested in her car?" Heero asked.  
  
"Well, she must be pretty attached to it," Quatre said. "I mean, she goes through all the trouble of paying for it, and you said yourself, the parking permits aren't cheep."  
  
"You aren't planning on letting all the air out of her tires, are you?" Heero asked dubiously.  
  
"Oh, of course not!" Quatre scoffed. "I would never do anything so crass and mundane. I happen to have something much better in mind..."  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I can't believe you agreed to point out Dorothy's car to him," Duo said as they walked along to the library.  
  
Heero just shrugged. "It's not like he couldn't have found it without me. I think I described it to him briefly that time, and it is rather distinctive, if only because it's unattractive."  
  
Duo nodded thoughtfully. "I have to admit, that's one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen."  
  
"I wonder what he's planning to do to it," Heero mused.  
  
"Don't ask, buddy. Sometimes it's better not to know."  
  
That made Heero pause to think. "You don't think Wufei or I will be affected, do you?"  
  
Duo's answer was not the most comforting thing he'd ever heard. "You shouldn't be, but you never know."  
  
"Great," Heero muttered.  
  
"I'll think he'll try to keep Wufei out of it, at least," Duo went on. "He won't want her giving Wufei credit for his work. Still, if you're worried about it, you can come hang out at my place this weekend."  
  
"What makes you think he'll do anything this weekend?" Heero asked.  
  
"Well, he can't very well do anything before then; he has a midterm on Friday that he's got to study for."  
  
"Won't he care if I show up at your place for the weekend?" Heero asked.  
  
"I know he's planning on spending Saturday night at least over at Trowa's place, so it shouldn't be a big deal," Duo answered carelessly. "You can probably have his bed."  
  
Heero considered it. "Okay."  
  
"You will? Great!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Just think, next year will be full of nights like this."  
  
Heero paused in the act of adding a card to the pile. "Why do you say that?"  
  
Duo shrugged. "Well, you'll be living with Trowa next year, and there will be nights like this that he wants to spend exclusively with Quatre, so you'll have to make yourself scarce. And since Quatre will be over with him, why not come here?"  
  
Heero considered that. "I guess that would be another perk of living with Trowa."  
  
"So you're getting into the idea, huh?"  
  
"It's much better than the alternatives," Heero said. "Aside from Dorothy, the only other offer I got was from those two girls on the second floor. They seemed awfully disappointed when I said I wouldn't be living with them, but I'm kind of glad. One of them had a picture of Wufei during the whipped cream incident taped to the ceiling above her bed." He shuddered slightly.  
  
"Yeah, I can see why you might not want to live with them," Duo said, absently slapping the pile of cards as he saw a pair of twos come up.  
  
Just then, there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them.  
  
Without turning, Duo asked, "What's up, Hilde?"  
  
"I'm about to vacuum in here," Hilde said, "so you two might want to move your game somewhere else."  
  
Duo frowned at her, looking at the clock on the wall. "It's nine o'clock," he said.  
  
"But it's Saturday," she countered. "The night is yet young."  
  
"Yeah, but isn't it a little late to be doing the vacuuming?  
  
"Why not?" Hilde asked. "The people living above us do their vacuuming at three in the morning."  
  
Duo muttered something about two wrongs not making a right, but he picked up the cards and headed for his room, Heero in tow.  
  
After closing the door to block out the noise, Duo sat at one end of his bed and motioned for Heero to sit at the other end. "We'll put the cards in between us," he said. "It's not as good as an actual table, but it'll have to do. Now, whose turn was it to go?"  
  
So, for the next quarter of an hour, they sat on Duo's bed, playing Egyptian poker. In the end, Duo won easily. Heero hadn't been as sharp as he usually was, and had missed quite a few pairs. He was too busy trying to figure out how he should word the proposition he wanted to make. He'd been too shy and a little scared to make it before, but now, with the end of the year approaching, he wanted to make it before he had to go away for the summer.  
  
"So," Duo said, shuffling the cards, "Another round?"  
  
"Actually," Heero suggested tentatively, "I was thinking maybe we could play a different game."  
  
"Okay," Duo said easily. "What do you want to play?"  
  
"You know how to play poker, right?"  
  
Duo grinned. "Why certainly. Of course, we usually play for matches, not real money, but..."  
  
"I was thinking we could play without matches," Heero interrupted. "Strip Poker." He shifted uneasily, waiting for Duo's reply. He'd never made such an offer before, and wasn't sure how it would be received.  
  
Duo looked slightly stunned. Finally he said, "Yes, well, we could do that. Or we could do the stripping without the poker."  
  
The cards went off the side of the bed and scattered on the floor as Heero took him up on that offer.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Hilde paused in her cleaning, then switched off the vacuum cleaner and listened intently. The sounds emerging from Duo's bedroom were suggestive, to say the least. "It's about bloody time," she murmured to herself, smiling slightly.  
  
The smile turned into an all out chuckle as there came a loud *thump* from some body part, probably an arm or a leg, hitting the wall. It was followed by a soft curse.  
  
"You'd think Duo would know after listening to Quatre that those beds just aren't big enough for that kind of thing," Hilde mused. Then she turned on the vacuum cleaner again and went back to her work.  
  
~*~*~  
  
In Duo's room, all was quiet. Neither young man felt particularly inclined to talk. Heero was too busy enjoying the feeling of being sprawled across Duo's chest, and Duo's face was buried in his lover's hair. Finally, however, Duo raised his head and said, "Your knee doesn't hurt, does it?"  
  
"Huh?" Heero mumbled intelligently. His knee? Oh, yes, the one he'd accidentally banged against the wall. "It's fine." Truth be told, he'd forgotten all about it. He'd had other things to occupy his attention.  
  
"Good," Duo said. "I know the bed's a little small, but just look on the bright side. It gives us an excuse to sleep close together."  
  
Heero nodded drowsily and then subsided. A comfortable silence filled the room for a few moments, then Heero said, "Duo?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"You said next year will have lots of nights like tonight?"  
  
"Oh yes," Duo said, smiling to himself and kissing Heero's forehead. "Lots and lots of them..."  
  
tbc  
  
Author's Notes: All right, I know I said that there would only be one more chapter of this to go. I lied. Well, I didn't really lie, I just changed my mind at the last minute. Chapter 19 was turning out a little longer than I'd intended, and then I talked to M.E., and she pointed out that it would be much nicer if there ended up being a nice, round, even number of chapters, like 20. Since I also like nice, round, even numbers, I decided to split the last chapter in two. So you can thank M.E. for the extra chapter. (I think the best way to thank her would be to go read her stuff and comment on it. Just an idea, mind you...)  
  
I hope I can finish this by February 13. That will mean I've finished it within a year after I started posting it. 


	20. Satisfactory Endings

Well, tomorrow is my big organic chemistry final, and we all know what that means... Hey SkyE, do you still have any of that muse spray?  
  
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is owned by people far more rich and powerful than I am (for whatever that's saying). Warnings: AU, shounen ai (1+2) Author's Ramblings: Okay, when I went off to college, I started writing these "everyday life" stories. This is sort of the culmination of them, since it depicts what I think would happen if the guys lived "normal" lives and met in college. I know that this idea is far from new, but hey, you know what they say; you write what you know.  
  
Welcome Distractions  
By Rapunzel  
  
Chapter 20: Satisfactory Endings  
(or Everyone Needs a Cameo)  
  
Relena stretched lazily as she stepped out into the sunshine. May had come, and the weather was being nice for a change, with clear skies and warm temperatures. Her good mood was helped along not only by the weather, but by the day of the week as well. It was Sunday, one of the best days of the week, in her opinion, and all of her school work was done. She was free! Free! Free! At least until tomorrow.  
  
"You look like you're practically floating on air," Dorothy observed wryly.  
  
Relena beamed at her roommate. "It's just such a lovely day, don't you think so? I love Sundays!"  
  
"I've always been more partial to Saturdays, myself," Dorothy mused. "But never mind that; we'd better get going, or there won't be any day left to enjoy."  
  
"Oh, yes, of course!" Relena followed her roommate towards the parking lot. Since they both had free time on their hands, Dorothy had offered to take her out shopping. Relena had agreed; she liked getting away from the dorms, and Dorothy's car made such outings possible. Relena herself hadn't brought her car, and so she relied solely on her roommate for transportation.  
  
Unfortunately, it was a bad day to rely on that.  
  
The first indication Relena had that all was not as it should be was when she nearly walked into Dorothy's back. The blond was standing at the edge of the parking lot behind the freshman dorms, her back rigid, her face displaying an expression of blank shock.  
  
"What's wrong?" Relena asked.  
  
Dorothy didn't answer verbally, she simply raised a finger and pointed.  
  
Looking out into the parking lot, Relena quickly spotted Dorothy's car. It was the only yellow car in the entire place, and it stood out a little normally. Now, it stood out even more, for it was resting on blocks. All four tires were missing.  
  
"Oh!" Relena exclaimed. "Someone's vandalized your car! Do you think it was Wufei?"  
  
Slowly, Dorothy shook her head. "It can't be. It was fine yesterday, and he's been gone all weekend."  
  
"Then who?" Relena asked.  
  
"I don't know, but I intend to find out." Dorothy's icy tone implied that when she did find out, the perpetrator would suffer greatly at her hand.  
  
"Maybe we should call the police," Relena suggested tentatively.  
  
Dorothy was about to answer, when something caught her eye. Hurrying over to the car, she snatched a piece of paper from under one of the windshield wipers and read it. Then, snarling, she handed it to Relena.  
  
It was actually several sheets of paper, Relena realized. On the front one was written a sort of poem.  
  
A wrong avenged, with justice done With new foe, a war begun. Wufei may not have been so tough But I am made of sterner stuff.  
  
For carelessness, you now must pay For innocents caught in your way. Do not seek me, I am gone. I came here just to right a wrong.  
  
But hunt a while, you'll surely want What I have taken on this jaunt. I'm not so cruel; you'll see I've left Directions to help the bereft  
  
Just remember as you seek your pelf You brought this down upon yourself.  
  
"I don't understand," Relena said. "What's it talking about?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Dorothy said. "But I've found my tires. Whoever did this somehow unlocked the door and put them in the back seat."  
  
"Well, that's good!" Relena said, brightening. Curiously, she removed the top paper containing the type written poem and looked at the one underneath it. It was a map of the campus, with an X marked on the parking lot they were at. Flipping back that page too, she was surprised to find a list of instructions, the first of which read, "Begin at the X and take twenty paces to the north."  
  
"Dorothy, look at this!" Relena exclaimed. Dorothy came over grudgingly and surveyed the paper. Then she looked back at Relena, confusion written all over her face. "Do you think we should follow it?" Relena asked.  
  
Dorothy considered it, looking over the instructions again. "There are various stopping points in here. Let's go as far as the first one and see what we find."  
  
And so, they wandered around the campus in a vague series of loops, backtracking every so often to try and follow the directions precisely. This was difficult to do, as most of the instructions specified a direction, such as north or south, and neither of them had a compass. Finally, after about twenty minutes, they reached the first stopping point, in front of a large oak tree.  
  
Going up to the tree, Dorothy surveyed it, then, finding a small bowl in it, reached her hand up and groped around inside. A moment later, she let out a triumphant cry, and pulled something down, only to look at it and begin cursing violently.  
  
"What is it?" Relena asked.  
  
Dorothy held out her hand. In it was a small, metal object.  
  
"A lug nut?" Relena asked, confused.  
  
"From my car," Dorothy ground out.  
  
"Well, at least we found it," Relena said consolingly.  
  
"We found one," Dorothy snarled. "We need nineteen more to make my car functional again." And she snatched up the directions, looking at them and stalking off.  
  
Relena sighed heavily as she trailed after her roommate. Suddenly, Sunday didn't seem like such a nice day anymore.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When Heero returned to the dorms late Sunday afternoon, the whole place was practically buzzing. Most of the people living in the building seemed to be clustered in the lounge or in the area around the front door, and almost all of them were talking excitedly about something or other.  
  
Heero was ready to dismiss the whole thing as nonsense, and was just trying to think of a way to get through the crowd without anyone trying to drag him in for a conversation, when everyone suddenly went quiet. Looking to see what had caused the abrupt silence, Heero turned around in time to behold Dorothy, looking extremely pissed about something, striding down the stairs. Most of the people in her path parted to make way for her, and she passed through and out the front door without so much as a glance at her clustered dorm mates. The minute the door closed behind her, however, everyone began talking even louder than before.  
  
As much as his common sense told him to just ignore the whole thing, Heero's curiosity was piqued. Whatever was going on, it obviously involved Dorothy and something unpleasant. He had a sneaking suspicion that Duo was right, and Quatre had chosen this weekend to have his revenge. While it probably wasn't a good idea to get involved, Heero wanted to know exactly what the blond had done. And after all, he mollified, it would be a good idea to know what was going on anyway, just in case he or Wufei became involved.  
  
With that thought in mind, he cautiously approached a long haired girl standing near the edge of the crowd. He recognized her easily; she was one of the girls from the second floor who had offered him a place to live. Happily, she wasn't the one who had taped the picture of Wufei above her bed, but Heero was still wary of her as he asked, "What's going on?"  
  
She gave him a surprised look. "You mean you haven't heard?"  
  
Heero just shook his head.  
  
"Well, it seems that your roommate isn't the only one who has it in for Dorothy."  
  
"Wufei isn't here," Heero put in quickly at the mention of his roommate. It was a good idea to point that fact out, just in case. After all, the last thing he wanted was for Dorothy to engage in another vengeance-crazed attack on Wufei.  
  
"I know," the girl said. "And Dorothy knows it too. I think that's why she's so upset. If she knew who it was, she would at least have a target. But right now, she doesn't have a clue."  
  
"What happened?" Heero wanted to know. "What did this unknown person do?"  
  
A girl from the first floor overheard the question, and inserted herself into the conversation, seeming pleased to have a fresh audience. "It was terrible! Dorothy went out this morning and found that someone had taken all four tires off her car!"  
  
Heero blinked. "That's it?" he asked. The way Duo had gone on about Quatre's plots, he'd been expecting something more elaborate. "Someone just stole her tires?"  
  
"Oh no," a young man from the second floor said, sidling over to join in the telling of the tale. "They weren't stolen. Someone just took them off and hid all the lug nuts."  
  
"And Relena told me that they left a treasure map telling her where to find them! They were out all morning, looking for them," the girl from the first floor said.  
  
The guy from the second floor chuckled. "I live in the room right next to hers, and so I got to listen when she called her parents to complain. Ooh, you should have heard her screech!"  
  
"I think the whole thing was very clever, myself," the long haired girl said. "A lot of fuss, but no permanent damage done. Too bad Dorothy doesn't see it that way."  
  
"She is _pissed_," said the girl from the first floor, laying a heavy emphasis on the word "pissed."  
  
"What do you think they did it for?" the guy asked.  
  
The long haired girl shrugged. "Maybe her reputation as a prankster has gotten out, and someone is challenging her."  
  
"But that can't be!" the other girl objected. "Relena said that there was a note, and it mentioned justice!"  
  
"That sounds like Wufei."  
  
"But it's not Wufei. It can't be; he's not here."  
  
"That's really a good thing for him, if you think about it..."  
  
Heero left them to their speculations and slipped quietly away towards his room. They would probably spend most of the rest of the day talking about it, but he doubted that any of them would ever guess the real reason behind the whole thing.  
  
Quatre's revenge was complete.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The next day, as Heero was preparing to leave for the library, he was surprised to hear Duo calling his name. Looking around the area, he finally spotted his boyfriend standing over by one of the other dorm buildings. A young woman with her light brown hair in two twists was standing next to him.  
  
"Hey Heero!" Duo greeted him enthusiastically.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Heero asked. "Don't you normally have to work soon?"  
  
Duo shrugged. "Not today. One of my coworkers swapped shifts with me so he could get the time off to go somewhere with his girlfriend. So I though I'd come visit you, and then I ran into Sally here." He gestured at the young woman next to him. "Heero, this is Sally. She was a friend of mine last year who became an RA. Sally, this is Heero."  
  
"I think I've heard about you," Sally said, smiling. "Aren't you the one with the roommate who's always trying to get back at one of the girls on the second floor?"  
  
That surprised Heero. "Wufei, yes, I'm his roommate. How did you know?"  
  
"Noin and I are pals," Sally said.  
  
Heero frowned. "Noin? Who's that?"  
  
" 'Who's that'?" Sally repeated incredulously. "She's one of the RAs for your building!"  
  
"I know the RA on the third floor is female," Heero said slowly. "But I thought her name started with an L."  
  
" Lucrezia. That's her first name, but she's not too fond of it, so most of us just call her Noin," Sally explained.  
  
Heero just nodded. It was a little disturbing, once he thought about it, to think that the RAs spent their free time swapping stories about their residents. Then again, maybe Wufei and Dorothy were just a special case. After all, they had both done some rather extraordinary things to each other.  
  
"Actually," Sally continued, "speaking of Noin, I'm planning to enlist her for my little project here." She gestured vaguely, and Heero finally noticed what she was standing in front of. It was a large wooden box full of soil. Sitting on the ground next to it were a few small flower containers, fresh from the nursery, from the look of them.  
  
"You're gardening?" Heero guessed.  
  
"Yup!" Sally looked enthusiastic. "And I'm thinking about recruiting my residents, and maybe even some of Noin's residents, if she agrees, to help me. Right now, though, I'll settle for roping Duo into the project."  
  
"You're laboring at a lost cause, hon," Duo told her with a shake of his head. "I don't live here any more, remember?"  
  
"That doesn't mean you can't help me today," Sally protested. "All I'm doing is putting in the flowers."  
  
"I'll help," Heero volunteered.  
  
"See?" Sally gestured at Heero. "Here he is sacrificing his time for the betterment of the dorm community..."  
  
"Fine, fine," Duo interrupted. "You're evil and conniving sometimes, Sally, but okay, I'll help you."  
  
So, Heero spent an hour digging holes in the flower box and listening to Sally and Duo quip at each other. Things were relatively peaceful until they reached the end of the planting. That was when Duo got a hold of the hose.  
  
The first Heero knew about it was when he heard Sally shriek. Turning around, he saw that she was soaking wet from the waist up, and Duo was standing a few feet away, garden hose in his hand and a mischievous grin on his face.  
  
"You said you wanted to cool down," Duo offered by way of explanation.  
  
"You brat!" Sally howled. "I'm wearing white too!"  
  
Duo shrugged, totally unrepentant. "If you're gonna flash the goods, at least you get to do it in front of someone like me who doesn't care."  
  
"That's not the point! What are my residents going to think? I'm supposed to be dignified in front of them!"  
  
"Dignity be damned," Duo responded.  
  
An evil gleam came into Sally's eyes. "Well, in that case..." She made a lunge for the hose, but Duo danced out of her way, holding the hose above his head and splashing her again in the process. Heero had just decided to leave them to their childish games when a blast of cold water hit him in the back. In trying to get away from Sally, Duo had inadvertently squirted him as well.  
  
"Duo..." he growled menacingly.  
  
"Um, would you believe me if I said that that was an accident?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero's glare was answer enough.  
  
"Let's get him!" Sally crowed.  
  
"No! Wait! Two against one isn't fa-ack!"  
  
Two against one might not have been fair, but Heero and Sally didn't especially care at that moment. They both sprang at Duo, Heero holding him down while Sally attempted to wrestle the hose away from him. Both of them got soaked for their efforts, but they were past caring at that point. After all, they fully planned to make Duo suffer the same fate.  
  
"Heero, you traitor!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Wufei was walking back from his class towards Nebula, when he heard the sounds of a struggle. Curious, he altered his course slightly and headed over to one of the neighboring dorm buildings. The sight that met his eyes there made him pause.  
  
His roommate was there, rolling around on the ground with Duo, attempting to pin the other. There was also a woman he had never seen before, sopping wet holding a garden hose. She had Duo by the braid and was attempting to stuff the hose down the neck of his shirt.  
  
"What a bunch of weirdoes," Wufei muttered to himself, shaking his head as he walked away.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I must admit, this wasn't exactly how I planned to spend the afternoon," Heero said.  
  
Duo didn't look up from where he was spreading his shirt out on the lawn to dry. "But you've got to admit, it sure beats doing homework."  
  
"Are you sure no one's going to care if we just sit out here without our shirts on?" Heero asked.  
  
"Judging from the looks you're getting," Sally said, gesturing to an admiring group of females nearby, "I think they'd be more upset if you put the shirts back _on_."  
  
"That's kind of what I'm worried about," Heero muttered, eyeing the girls warily.  
  
"Your shirt will dry faster this way," Duo said, stretching out in the grass next to Heero.  
  
"Oh you who can actually take your shirts off to let them dry," Sally groused.  
  
"You could too, you know," Duo said cheekily. "After all, you said yourself, you're wearing white, and as long as the shirt's wet, you might as well not be wearing one."  
  
Sally leaned over and smacked Duo on the head. "And whose fault is it that my shirt is wet?"  
  
"Now don't get mad," Duo protested. "Just look at it as an excuse to sit outside in the warm weather and enjoy the sunshine before summer comes in earnest and it gets too hot to move."  
  
"I won't be here for the summer," Sally told him with a smirk. "I could care less how hot it gets here."  
  
"You're leaving?" Heero asked.  
  
"Yup. I move out at the same time you do, the end of finals."  
  
"That's not all that far away," Heero mused.  
  
"Thank goodness," Sally sighed. "I'm ready for this year to end. I just have to get through the chaos that always comes at the end of the year, and then I'm free!"  
  
/Free,/ Heero thought, /at least until next year./  
  
~*~*~  
  
"This is ridiculous!"  
  
"What is?" Heero asked, despite the fact that he thought he already knew what Wufei was talking about.  
  
"How can they expect us to pack and take finals at the same time?!" Wufei demanded, throwing a set of school supplies into a box rather haphazardly. "It's absurd! We're supposed to be studying, and they want us out by the end of the week! I have a final that day! What the hell am I supposed to do?"  
  
Heero shrugged. "Find somewhere else to stay," he suggested.  
  
Wufei sent him a withering look. "You say it as if it's easy."  
  
Heero shrugged again. For him, it had been. Most of his stuff was going into storage for the summer anyway, so he didn't have to worry about where to keep it. As for where he was going to stay, he'd already made arrangements to stay with Duo. Heero smirked slightly, thinking that it was a good thing all his finals would be over by then, since he doubted he'd be able to get much studying done.  
  
"You look entirely too smug," Wufei groused irritably.  
  
Heero quickly wiped the smirk off his face. It wouldn't do to let Wufei know what he'd been thinking.  
  
However, a minute later, the smirk was replaced by a genuine smile as there was a knock on the door and Duo stuck his head in. "Hey guys!" he said. "How's the packing coming?"  
  
"Miserably," Wufei answered. "And how did you get in?"  
  
"Sally let me in," Duo replied. "Not that she really needed to. I swear, I should get a job as a doorman, holding the door open for people carrying lots of stuff out of the building. It seems to be all I've done so far anyway."  
  
"Don't you have finals to study for?" Wufei asked, looking not at all happy to see him. Then again, he had been feeling unhappy in general for days, so Heero wasn't sure if Duo was the cause of the frown on his face.  
  
"I'm done with my finals," Duo answered, grinning at him.  
  
"Lucky bastard," Wufei growled.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Heero asked. It wasn't that he wasn't glad to see Duo, but Duo almost never came to the dorms unless he had a specific errand there.  
  
"I've come to enjoy sitting on an island of calm in the sea of chaos," Duo said.  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"Meaning I've come to amuse myself by watching all you guys scrambling to finish finals and packing."  
  
"Have you no compassion?" Wufei sputtered. "Must you amuse yourself by watching our suffering?" He got a look on his face that Heero quickly recognized as the one Wufei often had when he was about to launch into a rant. Hastily, he interjected himself.  
  
"I'm almost done packing, why don't I go with you," he blurted.  
  
"Okay," Duo agreed, "but I'm not really doing anything. Just wandering around seeing if people need a hand. Oh, and as for delighting in your suffering, your RAs do it too. What do you think Sally and Noin are doing right now?"  
  
~*~*~  
  
Actually, at that moment, Sally and Noin were engaged in a slightly different activity.  
  
"Isn't he the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? Look at that hair!" Noin gushed.  
  
"I don't know," Sally replied critically surveying the blond man Noin had pointed out. "It's probably not natural. It looks almost like he bleached it."  
  
"Nonsense. His eyebrows are the same color," Noin protested. "But I wasn't referring to the color, I was talking about the length. How many guys do you know with hair that long?"  
  
"There's Duo," Sally answered immediately.  
  
Noin didn't seem to hear her. She was trying to catch the eye of the blond man, which was rather difficult, as he had his back to her just then.  
  
Sally gave him another critical look over, then shook her head. "He's not my type," she said decisively.  
  
"Oh, good," Noin said. "That leaves the field open for me."  
  
At that moment, the blond man's attention was drawn by Relena, who stuck her head out of her room and said, "Milliardo, will you please help me with this?"  
  
"Enough watching," Noin muttered. "I'm going in."  
  
Sally watched, mildly amused, as Noin sauntered up to room 210 and engaged Relena in conversation. "How's the moving out going? Need any help?"  
  
"Oh no, thank you," Relena answered politely. "My brother and I can manage."  
  
"So, this is your brother, is it?" Noin turned to the man with a bright smile. "I'm Lucrezia Noin, the RA from the third floor."  
  
The blond man smiled. "I'm Zechs." Relena cleared her throat rather pointedly behind him, and he amended, "That is, my name is Milliardo Peacecraft, but I go by Zechs."  
  
"Well, that's not too unusual. I usually go by Noin, instead of my first name..."  
  
Growing bored, Sally turned around and sauntered down the hallway, leaving Noin behind her to discuss names and nicknames with Milliardo Peacecraft. At the end of the hall, she ran into Duo and Heero, who were apparently having a small argument.  
  
"Come on, Heero, she's not going to bite," Duo was saying.  
  
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Heero muttered.  
  
"Surely you're not going to let Dorothy keep you off the second floor altogether," Duo said.  
  
"Dorothy's gone," came Noin's voice from behind them. "She had her last final yesterday."  
  
Sally turned to smile at her friend. "That was fast. How'd it go?"  
  
Smiling triumphantly, Noin held up a small slip of paper.  
  
Sally whistled. "He gave you his phone number?"  
  
"Uh huh!" Noin was beaming.  
  
"Who's this?" Duo asked, peering at the piece of paper.  
  
"His name is Zechs, and he's Relena's brother," Noin explained. "All I can say is, damn, but I wish she'd had him visit her sooner!"  
  
Noin then went off happily describing all of Zechs' various attributes, and Heero tugged on Duo's arm. "Let's go," he said, and Duo nodded, allowing himself to be towed away from the two RAs.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Ready to go?"  
  
Heero smiled at his boyfriend as he hefted the last of his luggage into the back of Duo's car. "Almost."  
  
"Are you going to miss the dorms?" Duo asked, looking back at the buildings behind them.  
  
"I don't know. Do you?"  
  
"Yes and no," Duo answered. "I liked living there, but there are some advantages to leaving. You can keep in touch with the people you liked, and you don't have to associate with the people you didn't."  
  
Heero nodded vaguely as he looked back at the dorms. "Well, I'm not sorry to leave. And I think we'll have fun on this road trip of yours."  
  
"You bet we will!" Duo said enthusiastically.  
  
"And when you drop me at home, you can meet my parents," Heero continued.  
  
"Oh, yeah." Duo sounded a little less enthusiastic about that, but he quickly brightened again. "Well, enough standing around. If you're done packing, let's get this show on the road! Goodbye college, and hello freedom!"  
  
Heero smiled as he closed the trunk and moved around to the front seat. Hello freedom indeed.  
  
Owari  
  
AN: Finally! It's finished! Okay, so I didn't accomplish my goal of finishing it within a year. It was a nice dream...  
  
On a different note, M.E. has suggested that there will be people who will want a sequel to this (i.e. Heero's Sophomore year). My response is as follows. I'm done. Finished. That's it. It's over. That's all she wrote. No more. Twenty chapters ought to be enough for anyone. It's certainly enough for me. I have no plans to continue this story, and, baring an all out raving attack by a horde of muses, I probably never will. The most you can hope to get out of me is a side story, and then only if M.E. finds something really good to bribe me with. 


End file.
